Sochi: Sweden`s Nicklas Backstrom missed Sunday`s Olympic ice hockey final at the Sochi Winter Games after testing positive for a banned substance.
Without assistant captain Backstrom, one of their star forwards, Sweden lost the gold medal game 3-0 to Canada.
"I`ve got absolutely nothing to hide," Backstrom told reporters. "It was shocking to me and at the same time I`m here right now and I have to deal it.
"I haven`t done anything differently in the past seven years and I`ve been playing internationally all that time.
"I was watching the game at the village. I was ready to play probably the biggest game of my career then two and a half hours before the game I get pulled aside. I was tested after the quarter-final against Slovakia."
Team doctor Bjoern Waldeback said the substance he tested positive for was pseudoephedrine, a stimulant, contained in a pill had been taking for many years.
"It`s a permitted drug. We told them he had one pill per day as he has for past seven years," Waldeback said.
The withdrawal of one of Sweden`s top players just before the game forced the Scandinavians to hastily rearrange their lineup and they were unable to mount a challenge against the defending Olympic champions.
Reuters
First Published: Monday, February 24, 2014, 00:42
