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Canoe Sprint athlete Serghei Tarnovschi who represented Moldova at the 2016 Olympic Games and also won a bronze medal in men's C1 1000 metres event has been suspended for four years after his sample was positive for banned substances.

The 19-year-old athlete who was born in Ukraine was handed a provisional suspension already on 19 August. He had a hearing in front of the ICF Doping Control Panel on the 24 November 2016.

“With the athlete and representatives from Moldova’s Canoe Federation present, the hearing concluded that Mr Serghei Tarnovschi was guilty of violating the ICF Anti-Doping Rules (article 2.1). /…/ In accordance with the ICF Anti Doping Rule 10.8, Mr Serghei Tarnovschi has been disqualified from the date the positive sample was collected (8th July 2016). The rule also states that the athlete must forfeit any medals, points or prizes won since the date of the adverse findings. In line with the ICF’s zero-tolerance stance towards doping, Mr Serghei Tarnovschi has been handed a lengthy four year ban from the sport,” says the statement of the International Canoe Federation.

The article published on the website of the Moldovan Olympic Committee says that Tarnovschi and his lawyer Paul Green will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). According to the lawyer he has evidence that athlete unintentionally consumed a prohibited substance from a contaminated supplements and the proper penalty should involve a sentence of a few months and not four years. They also believe Serghei Tarnovschi should retain his Olympic bronze medal despite the positive test.

Serghei Tarnovschi has the right to appeal to the ICF Court of Arbitration within 21 days as stated in the Article 13 of the ICF Anti-Doping Rules.

Sources: http://www.canoeicf.com/news/moldovas-serghei-tarnovschi-receives-four-year-ban ; http://olympic.md/decizia-federatiei-internationale-de-canoe-fic-cu-privire-la-cazul-lui-serghei-tarnovschi/ ; http://adevarul.ro/moldova/actualitate/tarnovschi-ramane-medalia-rio-suspendat-patru-ani-1_589314345ab6550cb80b73b3/index.html