ANKARA, May 25: Turkish weightlifter Halil Mutlu, a three-time Olympic champion, tested positive for a banned substance in the European championships last month, officials and media reports said on Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said he had been informed that a banned substance was discovered in a urine sample taken from Mutlu during the European weightlifting championships in Sofia between April 17-24, where the so-called “Little Dynamo” won three golds in the 62kg category.

“I don’t know the details. I was informed by the sports directorate that there was also a B sample and that he (Mutlu) would demand that it be also examined,” Sahin told journalists in Istanbul, Anatolia news agency reported.

The minister said he did not believe that the elite weightlifter took the performance-enhancing substance knowingly, adding that Mutlu had raised the possibility of someone having contaminated something he ate or drank.

The mass-circulation Hurriyet newspaper quoted an unnamed source close to Mutlu as saying: “Halil unfortunately tested positive for doping.”

The source added: “He did not take the substance deliberately. However, he took pain-killers ahead of the championships because of an injury. The medications might have contained the banned substance.”

The Turkish weightlifting federation declined to comment, while an official from the government’s directorate of sports told AFP they were looking into the reports.—AFP