DUSHANBE, 27.09.2019 (NIAT Khovar) – Olympic hammer throwing champion Dilshod Nazarov, who was supposed to take part in the World Athletics Championships in Qatar from September 27 through October 6, returned to Tajikistan.

Upon arrival in Dushanbe, Nazarov wrote a message on his Facebook page:

“Dear friends. You have probably heard that I was banned from representing my country. I cannot compete in the World Championship, because I was charged with having taken a prohibited drug. Please give me some time so that I can gather my thoughts. I don’t want to show emotions, I want to present the facts. Soon I will publish my statement. The truth is on my side!”

After rechecking doping samples from the 2011 World Championship in the Korean city of Daegu, a prohibited drug metabolite of Turinabol (an anabolic–androgenic steroid) was found in Nazarov’s test, reported the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on September 24 on its website (https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/).

AIU is a specially created organization that is involved in the verification of doping tests in athletics.