Japan swimmer Fujimori suspended after failed drug test

Tokyo (AFP): Japanese Olympic swimmer Hiromasa Fujimori has been temporarily suspended after failing a drugs test, the national swim federation said on Friday.

The 27-year-old, who placed fourth behind Michael Phelps and countryman Kosuke Hagino in the 200 metres individual medley at the 2016 Rio Olympics, tested positive for the banned stimulant ephedrine at last December's short course world championships in China, according to Japan officials.

Fujimori, a former Asian Games silver medallist, will now miss next month's national championships, which serve as qualifiers for the world championships in South Korea this summer.

A formal hearing by swimming's governing body FINA will determine the length of ban Fujimori will receive, after both his 'A' and 'B' samples tested positive. He becomes the second high-profile Japanese swimmer to fail a doping test in the past year after former backstroke world champion Junya Koga.

Koga, who won a world title in 2009, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport last November over his four-year ban after traces of illegal muscle-building substances were found in his system, claiming he took the substances unknowingly as part of a diet of supplements.