It is troublesome to see an athlete climbing any height of doping just to win by all means as the case of Puerto Rico Powerlifter who took a medication normally use as a first-line treatment of a high blood pressure.
The Puerto Rico lifter Johannes Hernandez provided a urine sample and tested positive for blood pressure medication hydrochlorothiazide and its metabolite, which are included on the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list.
Johannes has now been banned for 15-months by the International Paralympic Committee after he failed a drugs test at the 2019 Parapan American Games in Lima.
He had finished fourth and last in the men’s over-107 kilograms heavyweight class at the Games in Peru’s capital.
His ban has been back-dated to the day of competition, August 31, so he is eligible to return on November 30 of this year.
The 41-year-old’s results from Lima are subject to disqualification.
Hernandez lifted 140kg to finish fourth in Lima, which was a long way short of the 220kg recorded by Colombia’s gold medallist Jhon Castaneda.
He failed at two previous attempts at 135kg.
The Colombian’s total was a Pan American record.
