Serbian Olympic swimmer Uros Nikolic banned for one year after positive ephedrine test

Serbian Olympic swimmer Uros Nikolic was handed a one-year ban earlier this month after testing positive for a banned substance at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in February.

Nikolic appeared on track to compete in his second Olympic Games in Paris later this month as a member of the Serbian men’s 4×100 freestyle relay team. He ran 48.86 (7th place, which is now disqualified as an official result) at the World Championships in February, 48.91 (10th place) at last year’s World Championships, 48.65 (8th place) at the 2022 World Championships and 48.94 (10th place) at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Despite all of his sub-49-second times, Nikolic has never been under 49.5 seconds from a flat start, according to his World Aquatics profile.

But on February 11 – the day he swam the 4x100m freestyle relay in Doha – Nikolic tested positive for ephedrine, according to the Aquatics Integrity Unit. Ephedrine, which is found in some pre-workout pills and powders, can be used to enhance performance during training and competitions.

Nikolic recently set a personal best of 49.56 in the 100m freestyle at the Banja Luka Open in May. He most recently competed at the European Championships last month, where he finished 54th in the 100m freestyle (50.32). Nikolic did not compete in the 4×100m freestyle relay at the European Championships, where Justin Cvetkov He stepped in for him with a time of 49.41 and Serbia broke its national record with a time of 3:12.90.

Velimir Stjepanovic (47.99 Euro starting price), Nikola Acin (48.64 split at the European Championships) and national record holder Andrey Barna (46.86 anchor at the European Championships) will accompany Cvetkov at the Olympic Games in Paris, together with Anja Crevar (Women’s 200 m butterfly/400 m individual medley). Barna and Stjepanovic both compete individually in the 100 m freestyle.

Nikolic will be ineligible until July 4, 2025, meaning he may have the opportunity to compete at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore from July 11 to August 3.