Serbian Olympic Swimmer Uros Nikolic Suspended One Year After Testing Positive for Ephedrine

Serbian Olympic swimmer Uros Nikolic was dealt a one-year suspension earlier this month after testing positive for a banned substance at February’s World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Nikolic appeared on track to attend his second Olympic in Paris later this month as a member of the Serbian men’s 4×100 free relay. He split 48.86 at February’s Worlds (7th place, which is now disqualified as an official result), 48.91 at last year’s Worlds (10th place), 48.65 at 2022 Worlds (8th place), and 48.94 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 (10th place). Despite all the sub-49 second splits, Nikolic has never been under 49.5 on a flat start, according to his World Aquatics profile.

But on February 11 — the day he swam the 4×100 free relay in Doha — Nikolic tested positive for ephedrine, according to the Aquatics Integrity Unit. Ephedrine, which is found in some pre-workout pills and powders, can be used to enhance performance during training and competition.

Nikolic recently posted a personal-best 49.56 in the 100 freestyle at May’s Banja Luka Open. He last competed at last month’s European Championships, where he placed 54th in the 100 free (50.32). Nikolic did not contest the 4×100 free relay at Euros, where Justin Cvetkov filled in for him with a 49.41 split and Serbia broke its national record with a time of 3:12.90.

Velimir Stjepanovic (47.99 leadoff at Euros), Nikola Acin (48.64 split at Euros), and national record holder Andrej Barna (46.86 anchor at Euros) will join Cvetkov at the Paris Olympics along with Anja Crevar (women’s 200 fly/400 IM). Barna and Stjepanovic are both contesting the 100 free individually.

Nikolic is ineligible until July 4, 2025, meaning he might have an opportunity to compete at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore from July 11-August 3.