SKorean pole vaulter Lim Eun-ji banned for doping

EOUL, South Korea (AP) — Lim Eun-ji, South Korea’s record-holder in the women’s pole vault, has been suspended for three months after testing positive for a prohibited substance, the country’s doping watchdog said Tuesday.

Also, Lee Kyong-jae, who won the gold medal in the men’s 5,000-meter event during a local athletics meet in May, tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine and was suspended for two years. He must forfeit his gold medal, the Korea Anti-Doping agency said in a statement.

Lim tested positive for the diuretics hydrochlorothiazide and chlorothiazide during the same meet, the doping watchdog said. She must forfeit the gold medal she won, too.

The 21-year-old Lim told a hearing on June 10 that she didn’t intentionally take the banned substance and that some Oriental herbal medicines she had taken to cure her ankle injuries contained the diuretics, according to the Korea Association of Athletics Federation.

Lim, who has the national pole vault record of 4.35 meters and is seen as a strong contender to win a medal at the Asian Games this year in Guangzhou, China, has been suspended from June 10, the doping watchdog said.