UPDATE 1-Olympics-Canoe bronze medallist suspended 'after failed drug test'

(Updates with comment from the ICF, byline)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Moldovan canoe sprint bronze medallist Serghei Tarnovschi was provisionally suspended from the Rio Olympics on Thursday, after he failed a pre-Games drug test, the International Canoe Federation (ICF) said.

The 19-year-old paddler had been due to contest the C2M 1000m with brother Oleg, but will now no longer be eligible, the ICF said.

It was unclear whether Tarnovschi would be stripped of his medal.

ICF Secretary General Simon Toulson told Reuters the status of Tarnovschi's medal would be determined by an International Olympic Committee-led hearing.

He did not know when it would take place but said it would be "as soon as possible."

The test uncovered an "atypical finding," Toulson said, and occurred prior to any Olympic events.

Toulson has not spoken to Tarnovschi but said the Moldovan National Olympic Committee was "obviously asking a bunch of questions to us."

"I don't think they've got much experience in this," he said. (Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann in Rio de Janeiro Editing by Neville Dalton)

08/18/2016 15:17

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