Athletics-Sweden's European cross-country champion Fsiha fails dope test

Swedish cross-country runner Robel Fsiha, who won gold at the European Championships in Lisbon in December, is under investigation by the country's Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for an unnamed substance. Fsiha has been suspended since his positive A sample was revealed in February and his B sample has now also returned a positive result, his club Sparvagen said on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old Eritrean-born runner was tested in November 2019 in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. "The B sample has now been analyzed and it came back with the same result as the A sample. We will await Swedish Anti-Doping's investigation," Sparvagen representative David Fridell told state broadcaster SVT in an e-mail.

"I have only used one tablet for colds," Fsiha was quoted as saying by Expressen in Sweden. Fridell said neither Fsiha nor his coach Patrik Melin would make any further comment until the investigation was complete.

Fsiha became a naturalized Swede in 2018 and his gold medal at the European Championships was a first for Sweden's men.