Russian teen figure skater Kamila Valieva, who tested positive for a banned heart medication in December, listed two other legal substances used to improve her heart function on her Olympic forms. Here are the functions of the three drugs. A thread.
TRIMETAZIDINE: Trimetazidine is a metabolic agent that can help prevent angina attacks. It can increase blood flow efficiency and improve endurance — both crucial to any high-end athletic performance.
HYPOXEN: Hypoxen is a drug designed to increase oxygen flow to the heart. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency recently tried, without success, to get it placed on the banned list.
L-CARNITINE: L-carnitine, another oxygen-boosting performance enhancer, is banned if injected above certain thresholds.
The World Anti-Doping Agency filed a brief in the Valieva case stating that the existence of L-carnitine and Hypoxen, though both legal, undercuts the argument that a banned substance, trimetazidine, might have entered the skater’s system accidentally.
