The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced here Thursday that it has issued a reprimand against Russian ice hockey player Svetlana Terenteva for an anti-doping rule violation.

On Feb. 6, Terenteva was requested to provide a urine sample for a pre-competition doping control. The analysis of her A sample indicated the presence of tuaminoheptane, a prohibited substance "in competition but not out of competition", said the IOC in a press release.

The IOC set up a disciplinary commission (DC) on Feb. 9, and heard the athlete the following day.

During the hearing, Terenteva admitted that she had used Rhinofluimucil under prescription to cure a bad head cold in January, and she had stopped using it on Feb. 3, as she knew the substance would be prohibited during the period of the Olympic Games.

The commission thus unanimously concluded that "the athlete had committed an anti-doping rule violation in that there was the presence of the prohibited substance, tuaminoheptane, in her body, regardless of the date she had taken Rhinofluimucil."

However, the commission also took into consideration that Terenteva spontaneously declared that knowing Rhinofluimucil was a prohibited "in competition" substance, had therefore stopped taking it.

And she also admitted the use of a prohibited substance and confirmed the result of the A sample, refrained from asking the B sample be opened for analysis.

The IOC further explained that her use of Rhinofluimucil was during an out-of-competition period, at which time the use of the substance was not prohibited, and the prohibited substance would be out of her system well before the date of her first competition at the Vancouver Games.

Besides, the Russian team doctor was also aware that she had been taking Rhinofluimucil, and she was totally open and cooperative.

Considering this was her first violation during her long career of four World Championships since 2001, the commission decided to issue a reprimand to Terenteva, to remind the Russian NOC to ensure its athletes and officials comply with all anti-doping rules, and to forward the decision to the International Ice Hockey Federation for any further action.

Under the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, testing takes place under the IOC's auspices from 4 to 28 February.

Within that period, the IOC systematically performs tests before and after events. After each event, the IOC systematically carries out tests on the top five athletes plus two at random.

For the duration of the Vancouver Games, the IOC will carry more than 2,000 tests, of which around 500 will apply to urine EPO detection and 400 will be blood tests.

As of 10 February, 634 samples have been collected.