Published 18 Dec 2024 at 09:48
It is often linked to the Soviet Union’s “super soldiers” and got tennis star Marija Sharapova suspended.
Here is the substance that Mychajlo Mudryk is said to have tested positive for.
Mychajlo Mudryk.
Photo: DAVE SHOPLAND / AP TT NEWS AGENCY
Mychajlo Mudryk.
Foto: ZAC GOODWIN / STELLA PICTURES / PA
According to British and Ukrainian data, Meldonium is the substance that Chelsea star Mychajlo Mudryk tested positive for.
The Daily Mail writes that meldonium has been common among Russian athletes over the years. As recently as 2016, Russian tennis star Marija Sharapova tested positive for the drug. She was suspended for two years.
But from the beginning, the preparation, which is found in the drug Mildronate, was manufactured to supply the Soviet “super soldiers” who fought in Afghanistan in the 70s and 80s.
The man behind meldonium, Ivar Kalvins, has previously said so.
– If the soldiers have to work in the mountains, there may be a lack of oxygen. By using Mildronate, you protect yourself from injury, Kalvins added Wired in connection with Sharapova’s suspension.
Maria Sjarapova
Foto: STEPHEN LOVEKIN / SHUTTERSTOCK EDITORIAL/IBL
“A lot of people used it”
According to Kalvins, the Latvian company Grendiks shipped hundreds of tons of Mildronate to the army during the Soviet era.
– There were a lot of people who used it, Kalvins said.
Mychajlo Mudryk has been suspended pending a second test result. He denies the doping accusations and is certain that he is innocent.
“It came as a complete shock,” he wrote on Instagram after the news broke on Tuesday.
Mychajlo Mudryk joined Chelsea last year, when he became one of the world’s most expensive purchases of all time. The Ukrainian winger cost the equivalent of SEK 1.1 billion when he was bought from Shakhtar Donetsk.