had been taking the drug for ten years for various health issues, and had not noticed that it had been banned. On 8 June 2016, she was suspended from playing tennis for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), which was reduced to 15 months by Court of Arbitration for Sport after appeal. Earlier the same year (March 7), Russian ice dancer Ekaterina Bobrova announced that she had also tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 European Figure Skating Championships. Bobrova said she was shocked about the test result, because she had been made aware of meldonium's addition to the banned list, and had been careful to avoid products containing banned substances. In May 2016, Russian professional boxer Alexander Povetkin—a former two-time World Boxing Association (WBA) Heavyweight Champion—tested positive for meldonium. This was discovered just a week prior to his mandatory title match against World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight Champion, Deontay Wilder. As a result, the match—scheduled to take place in Russia—was postponed indefinitely by the WBC. Other athletes who are provisionally banned for using meldonium include UFC flyweight Liliya Shakirova, Ethiopian-Swedish middle-distance runner Abeba Aregawi, Ethiopian long-distance runner Endeshaw Negesse, Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov, and Ukrainian biathletes Olga Abramova and Artem Tyshchenko. The Ice Hockey Federation of Russia replaced the Russia men's national under-18 ice hockey team with an under-17 team for the 2016 IIHF World U18 Championships after players on the original roster tested positive for meldonium. More than 170 failed tests by athletes were identified in a relatively brief period after the ban on meldonium was imposed on 1 January 2016, almost all of which were from Eastern European countries. Many of the early cases were dropped when athletes claimed that they had ceased use in 2015. Notable athletes with positive samples include: In addition it was reported that five Georgian wrestlers and a German wrestler had tested positive for the drug although no further names were released. On 25 March 2016 the Fédération Internationale de Sambo confirmed that four wrestlers under their governance (two from Russia and two from other countries) had recorded positive tests for the drug. Debates A December 2015 study in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis argued that meldonium "demonstrates an increase in endurance performance of athletes, improved rehabilitation after exercise, protection against stress, and enhanced activation of central nervous system (CNS) functions". However the study itself presents no evidence for