It was during an "out-of-competition" test in August that Swiatek's urine sample showed low levels of trimetazidine – the same substance that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was banned for taking.
Later, it has been revealed that the 23-year-old Polish tennis star, previously world number one, had ingested the banned substance through another contaminated medicine. This has been confirmed by an independent testing laboratory, approved by the international doping organization WADA.
"I was shocked"
I was shocked, this whole situation has given me a lot of anxiety, says Swiatek in a video on Instagram. She continues:
We reacted immediately and have cooperated with ITIA (tennis's international testing organization). The extremely low levels indicated that the test was either contaminated, or that some medicine I had taken was contaminated. Therefore, we have focused on testing my medicines, and the tests showed that melatonin, which I have taken for a long time, was contaminated during production.
Swiatek was temporarily suspended from September 12 to October 4. Therefore, only about a week of the suspension imposed by tennis's international testing organization, ITIA, remains.
She is free to compete again from December 5.
Another notable doping case
Swiatek is one of women's tennis' biggest stars and has won five Grand Slam titles, most recently the French Open in June. At the Olympic Games in Paris, she took bronze.
This is the second notable doping case in tennis recently. World number one on the men's side, Jannik Sinner, tested positive for doping on two separate occasions in March this year.
His test showed positive for a metabolite of clostebol, a banned steroid according to WADA's regulations, but the Italian was cleared of suspension.
According to ITIA, the 23-year-old was temporarily suspended on both occasions when the tests showed positive, but after an appeal, he was cleared both times. The explanation was that he had ingested the banned substance in connection with the treatment of a wound.
