Russian gymnast fails drug test, meldonium found

A Russian gymnast could miss the Olympics after he became the latest to test positive for the banned substance meldonium.

Nikolai Kuksenkov withdrew from the national championships

The Russian gymnastics federation said Nikolai Kuksenkov withdrew from the national championships after being informed he failed a drug test. (Ronald Wittek/The Associated Press)

A Russian gymnast could miss the Olympics after he became the latest to test positive for the banned substance meldonium.

The Russian gymnastics federation said Nikolai Kuksenkov withdrew from the national championships after being informed he failed a drug test.

The news came a day after Kuksenkov, a former European champion, won the Russian title in the individual men's all-around.

Kuksenkov's is the first known doping case in gymnastics involving meldonium. More than 20 other Russians across all sports have tested positive for meldonium, which was banned on Jan. 1, with at least 123 cases worldwide.

Also on Saturday, Russian Pavel Kulikov, an Olympic hopeful in skeleton, said in a statement he failed a test for meldonium.