What is Trimetazidine? All you need to know about the prohibited substance that resulted in Iga Swiatek's 1-month drug suspension

In a shocking turn of events, it has now come to light that Iga Swiatek has been served a one-month ban after failing a doping test. During a routine out-of-competition test in August 2024, she tested positive for "trimetazidine", a banned substance. She was provisionally suspended starting from September 12.

Swiatek missed the Asian swing, and after all the speculation behind her withdrawal, this turned out to be the real reason. She also launched an appeal regarding her suspension during this time, and the ban was lifted on October 4, as announced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) on Thursday, November 28.

The Pole revealed that she tested positive because she took melatonin, a non-prescription medicine to deal with jet lag and sleeping issues. During the investigation it was found out that her batch of medicine was contaminated with trimetazidine, leading to the positive test.

Trimetazidine is described as a cytoprotective, anti-ischemic agent, and it essentially improves the blood flow to the heart. When it comes to sports, it naturally gives an unfair advantage to the player using it, and it has come under the scanner as a performance booster.

Chinese Olympic swimmer Sun Yang and Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva are some of the other notable names to have tested positive for trimetazidine in the past. The former was handed a three-month ban, while the latter received a four-year ban. Swiatek has gotten a relatively lighter sentence, and for a good reason.

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The International Tennis Integrity Agency ruled that Iga Swiatek bore "no significant fault or negligence"

Iga Swiatek at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals 2024. (Photo: Getty)

The ITIA while deciding Iga Swiatek's matter ruled that she bore "no significant fault or negligence". They found her reason to be perfectly valid and identified the source of contamination as well to back up her story. However, due to the rules, she couldn't escape punishment.

Swiatek didn't possess a valid TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemptions), which allows athletes to take certain prohibited substances in order to treat certain illnesses or conditions. As a result, she was hit with a one-month ban.

However, Swiatek has already served three weeks of her month-long ban during the provisional suspension. She now has only a week of sentence left to serve, which began on November 27. With this being the off-season, this isn't something the Pole would stress about. Having cleared her name, she will now be keen to bounce back with a strong start to the 2025 season.