On Tuesday the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced Portuguese para cyclist Luis Miguel Pinto Costa has been banned from sport for 2 years after testing positive for Chlorthalidone at the 2024 Paralympic Games held in Paris, France.

The 51-year old won a bronze medal in the Men’s H5 Individual Time Trial, just two days after a required anti-doping test was administered, which upon lab analysis showed the presence of Chlorthalidone. Soon thereafter, the International Paralympic Committee disqualified the Portuguese cyclist, stripped him of the bronze medal and awarded it to the Chinese Qiangli Liu. 

A veteran international paralympic athlete, Costa also competed in the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 games, finishing eight and sixth respectively.

Now the UCI, which has jurisdiction over paralympic cycling events, has banned Luis Miguel Pinto Costa from participating in sport in any capacity from 20 January 2025 until 19 January 2027.

Chlortalidone is a diuretic banned at all times by the World Anti-Doping Agency that can be used to reduce the urine concentration of performance enhancing substances in the body, thus potentially masking the presence of banned substances in urine samples.

Photo Credit: CPP/ANTÓNIO PEDRO SANTOS – LUSA

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