site.btaGabriela Petrova Denies Breaking Anti-Doping Rules

Gabriela Petrova Denies Breaking Anti-Doping Rules

Sofia, March 28 (BTA) - Triple jumper Gabriela Petrova, Bulgaria's top athlete for 2015, told a news conference on Monday she had stopped taking Meldonium as early as in September, when the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published a list of banned drugs from 2016.

Petrova failed a drug test on February 6, when she tested positive for the banned drug.

Petrova said: "I'm not here to make excuses but to tell the truth. In no way have I broken the anti-doping rules. In 2015 I was taking Meldonium. At the end of September WADA published a list of banned drugs from 2016. I should follow the lists and I knew that Meldonium will be banned which is why I stopped taking it in September. The only explanation is that the drug stays in the body for a long time. Of the 140 athletes who have tested positive for Meldonium, no one has been punished and neither have I. I am not banned from practicing sports," Petrova said.