ROME (AP) — Two-time Paralympic gold medalist Martina Caironi was provisionally suspended Wednesday after testing positive for a steroid.
Italy's anti-doping agency says Caironi failed an out-of-competition test on Oct. 17 in Bologna.
The 30-year-old Caironi won the T42 100 meters at both the 2012 London Games and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. She also won a silver medal in the T42 long jump in Rio — where she was Italy's flagbearer.
The T42 category is for single above-knee amputees and athletes with similar impairments.
Caironi had her left leg amputated following a motorcycle accident in 2007.
Nado Italia, the anti-doping agency, says Caironi tested positive for the steroid Clostebol.
Caironi said the banned substance was contained in a cream she used to treat an ulcer on the stump of her amputated leg. She said she used it in small doses initially, then eventually declared it as a Therapeutic Use Exemption.
Caironi had been preparing to compete in the world para athletics championships in Dubai beginning Thursday.
"Now I find myself having to miss a worlds in a key year and still without having found a definitive cure for my ulcer," Caironi said in a statement.
