Kazakhstan international water polo player Darya Muravyeva has been suspended for two years for missing three doping tests in 2022.
Muravyeva recorded “Whereabouts Failures,” or failure to be available during her daily scheduled Whereabouts hour for drug testers, three times in early 2022: on January 21, February 15, and April 4. Three Whereabouts failures in a 12 month period results in sanctioning.
According to the International Testing Agency (ITA), after missing her first test, she was also notified that her Whereabouts filings for the first quarter of the year were non-compliant. She was given three days, from February 4 until February 7, to correct them.
According to the ITA, in spite of extending that deadline and sending a second reminder on March 24, Muravyeva did not update her Whereabouts Filings, meaning a second failure.
The third failure, on April 4, was the result of a missed test for not being available during her 60 minute window.
As a results of the failures, Muravyeva was given a two year suspension, with disqualification of all results beginning April 5, 2022. She will be eligible to return to competition on January 11, 2024. That means she would be eligible for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The team has not yet qualified, and it would take a high finish at February’s World Championships (Muravyeva will also be eligible there) to do so.
Muravyeva, 25, competed for Kazakhstan in women’s water polo at the 2015, 2019, and 2022 World Championships. In those tournaments, Kazakhstan finished 12th, 10th, and 12th, respectively.
At the 2022 World Championships, she ranked 4th in the tournament with three extra player goals, and five goals overall (one shy of the team’s lead). Her 42% shooting from the field led the team.
In 2023, without Muravyeva, Kazakhstan finished 15th.
Wouldn’t have mattered if they showed up, would’ve just been suspended for their superior potassium levels.