Former Olympic pole vault champion Thiago Braz suspended for positive doping test

Braz won a surprising gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics with a jump of 6.03 meters that still stands as the Olympic record.

Brazil’s Thiago Da Silva celebrates after clearing the bar to set new Olympic record during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro. | Photo Credit: AP

Former Olympic pole vault champion Thiago Braz has been suspended after testing positive for doping, track and field authorities said Friday.

The Athletics Integrity Unit said Braz was notified of an allegation he tested positive for ostarine. No more details were published.

Braz won a surprising gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics with a jump of 6.03 meters that still stands as the Olympic record.

The 29-year-old Braz took bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He competed in two Diamond League meets in Europe this month ahead of next month’s world championships in Budapest, Hungary.

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Braz has been provisionally suspended while the AIU prosecutes his case. He faces a ban of up to four years.

Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator that can help muscle growth. It was the substance that cost the British men’s 4x100-meter relay team a silver medal at the Tokyo Games after Chijindu Ujah tested positive.