Melbourne (AFP) - Australian Olympic track star Peter Bol was provisionally suspended Friday after failing an out-of-competition drugs test, Athletics Australia said.
The 800-metre runner, who narrowly missed bronze when he finished fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics behind Kenyan winner Emmanuel Korir, returned the positive result on January 10.
The test was carried out in October.
Athletics Australia chief Peter Bromley said Bol's A sample showed an Adverse Analytical Finding for performance-enhancing Erythropoietin Receptor Agonists (EPO).
"There are procedural fairness and investigative considerations that constrain how much we can say," Bromley said.
"And at this point it would be inappropriate for Athletics Australia or anyone else to speculate about the specific details or pre-empt any outcome.
"However, what we can say is that learning about this adverse analytical finding was both extremely concerning and completely out of the blue."
Bol can now have a second, B sample analysed to reconfirm the initial result.
