Olympia 2018: Japanese Saito the first case of doping:”It’s inexplicable.”

The Olympic Winter Games have their first case of doping. The Japanese shorttracker Kei Saito was sold in Pyeongchang on April 4. According to CAS, the International Sports Court on Tuesday, CAS announced that it had been tested positive for the masking substance acetazolamide and provisionally banned before the start of the competitions in February. The B-sample was also positive. Saito has left the Olympic Village, according to the Japanese delegation.

During the scandalous games of Sochi in 2014, seven athletes had been convicted of doping, including the German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle. Only in retrospect did Russia receive large-scale evidence of state-orchestrated doping.

Saito (21) is the first Japanese case of doping in winter games. He denies having deliberately cheated.”I am surprised and dismayed. That’s inexplicable. I never intended to take drugs. I attended the Japanese anti-doping seminar and followed all instructions,”he said in a written statement. He was scheduled as a replacement for the 5000 m relay on Tuesday.

Saito emphasized his conviction:”Athletes should not dope. “I’ve never taken drugs that I would have to cover up.”

Acetazolamide is a diuretic, which is prescribed against altitude sickness and increased eye pressure. It increases lung function and has a washing-out effect, allowing other forbidden substances to leave the body faster “I have never used muscle building preparations, nothing. I was always cautious,”said the 1.61 m tall, petite athlete.

Japan’s head of mission Yasuo Saito confirmed that the shorttracker will be on 29 March. So we currently have no explanation for how the substance could get into his body.”

However, Kei Saito is following suit for the time being,”Fighting against it now would cause trouble for the entire team. Therefore, I leave the village and accept the provisional ban,”he said.

His older sister Hitomi (27) stands with the 3000 m relay on 20. February in the B-final. That is also why he will try to prove his innocence later, said Kei Saito. Yasuo Saito explained that he could not say where his protégé is at the moment.

All decisions on a doping offence in Pyeongchang are made by the CAS Anti-Doping Unit. The local organising committee POCOG in cooperation with the leading “Doping-Free Sport Unit” of the association of all international sports federations has drawn up the test plan. This is constantly checked and adjusted during the Olympic Games.

Control is carried out on behalf of POCOG (in Pyeongchang), the South Korean NADA (outside Pyeongchang) and the other NADOs (outside South Korea).

The doping samples are analysed in South Korea’s capital Seoul. Objections are accepted by CAS’s ad hoc chamber.