Pole vaulter Braz banned, to miss Paris Olympics

MONACO — Olympic pole vault gold medalist Thiago Braz was banned for 16 months for doping and will miss the Paris Games, track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said Tuesday.

Braz, 30, won the Olympic title at his home Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016 and took bronze in Tokyo three years ago.

Braz’s ban expires in November and he has filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the AIU said.

Braz claimed his positive test for ostarine was caused by a contaminated nutritional supplement and the anti-doping tribunal judges accepted by a 2-1 verdict he was not at significant fault, the AIU said.

The track and field investigation unit said it would consider an appeal to CAS after asking the first tribunal to impose a four-year ban.

Braz was “reckless” and acted with “indirect intent,” the AIU said, because he was aware of concerns with Brazilian pharmacies and “manifestly disregarded that risk.”

He tested positive at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm last July, several weeks before the world championships.

Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator used to enhance muscle growth and performance.