Geneva, April 26 (IANS): Latvian ice hockey player Ralfs Freibergs became the eighth athlete and third hockey player to fail the Sochi Olympics dope tests.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Friday that the 23-year-old provided a urine sample Feb 22 whose A and B samples indicated the presence of a prohibited substance. The IOC decided to disqualify Freibergs from the play-offs quarter-finals where Latvia lost to Canada 1-2 Feb 19, reports Xinhua.
The player was retroactively kicked out of the games and his diploma for placing eighth would be withdrawn.
Another Latvian, Vitalijs Pavlovs, was disqualified in Sochi after testing positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine, following the loss to Canada.
Swedish star Nicklas Backstrom was suspended from the Olympic final against Canada after a positive test for pseudoephdrine which was contained in an allergy medication but he was allowed to keep his silver medal.
The IOC carried out a record 2,812 tests during the Feb 7-23 Winter Olympics.