This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A Japanese kayaker has been banned from competition for eight years for spiking the drink of a rival so that he would fail a doping test.

Yasuhiro Suzuki drugged his key rival at last year’s national championships in September. Suzuki spiked the drink of rival Seiji Komatsu with an anabolic steroid causing him to fail a doping test, the Japan Anti-Doping Agency said on Tuesday. Both men had been competing for a place at the 2020 Olympics, which will be held in Tokyo.

The Japan Canoe Federation began investigating after Komatsu tested positive but denied ever taking drugs. After Komatsu tested positive, Suzuki admitted putting a muscle-building supplement containing the banned steroid methandienone in his drink.

The incident is Japan’s first case of an athlete failing a doping test due to deliberate contamination, according to the Japan Anti-Doping Agency, which handed down the eight-year ban.