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Associated Press
DOHA, Qatar - A weightlifter from Myanmar tested positive to a banned diuretic and was the first athlete disqualified for doping at the 15th Asian Games.
Than Kyi Kyi, who placed fourth in the women's 106-pound division, waived her right to have a B sample tested after her initial urine sample taken Dec. 2 showed elevated traces of the diuretic furosemide.
"After due consideration and after listening to her submission, the OCA disciplinary commission recommended that this athlete has committed an anti-doping violation and should be disqualified from the competition," said Olympic Council of Asia director general Husain Al Musallam on Saturday.
Diuretics are on the list of banned substances because they can be used to mask illegal steroids.
Than, 28, won a gold medal in the snatch in the 101-pound class at the 1997 world championships in Chang Mai, Thailand and was a silver medalist at the Southeast Asian Games last year in Manila.
Ranked sixth in the world at the end of 2005, she was one of 40 athletes from Myanmar at the games.
Her case has been forwarded to the international weightlifting federation and the International Olympic Committee for further consideration, Musallam said. Than faces a two-year ban from competition.
The last reported doping case involving furosemide was in September, when Belarusian gymnast Nadejda Vyzotskaya tested positive for the banned diuretic and was temporarily suspended, pending further investigation by international gymnastics officials.
Weightlifting has been plagued by doping offenses in recent meets.
India was suspended from international weightlifting competitions, for the second time in less than two years, after four of its weightlifters failed doping tests prior to and during the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in March.
India became eligible to send weightlifters to Melbourne, but declined to pay a fine imposed by the international federation for the earlier offenses.
The Doha Games dodged an earlier doping scandal when discus thrower Seema Antil opted not to compete despite Indian Athletics Federation dismissing a case against her.
Antil, 23, reportedly failed an out-of-competition doping test conducted at an Indian training camp in Oman last month. She was stripped of her 2000 junior world championships title after testing positive to a banned stimulant.
The AFI convened a hearing and, without elaborating, found that Antil was innocent, Indian media reported.