Anjelina Nadai Lohalith of Team Athlete Refugee Team. GETTY IMAGES

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said Tuesday that Olympic refugee team runner Anjelina Nadai Lohalith has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for Trimetazidine, Agence France-Presse reports. The banned substance, usually used to prevent and treat the symptoms of angina, is the same that put 23 Chinese swimmers in the spotlight recently.

The substance is a blood flow booster known commonly as TMZ and was also detected in Russian skater Kamila Valieva during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

"The AIU has provisionally suspended Anjelina Nadai Lohalith (Athlete Refugee Team) for Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Trimetazidine)," the AIU wrote on X, with a final decision on the matter now pending.



Born in 1995, the South Sudanese athlete, who took refuge in Kenya in 2002 to escape her country’s civil war, made her debut at the Rio Games in 2016. She also took part in the refugee Olympic team at the Tokyo Games in 2021, where she participated in the 1500 metres. She was eliminated in the qualifiers.

The World Anti-Doping Agency came under pressure in April after it was revealed 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for Trimetazidine ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. WADA investigated the incident and allowed the swimmers to compete after accepting China's findings that they had ingested it unwittingly from food during a meet in late 2020 and early 2021.