The 1,500-meter runner, Sadik Mikhou of Bahrain, has been provisionally suspended for receiving a blood transfusion during the Tokyo Olympics, the International Testing Agency said on Sunday.

The ITA, in charge of drug testing during the Games, said the athlete had provided a sample a day before running the 1,500 meters on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old athlete ran in the playoffs but did not reach the semifinals.

The ITA said Mikhou can now request testing of a ‘B’ sample.

Blood doping artificially increases the blood’s ability to deliver more oxygen to the muscles, thereby improving performance.

Homologous blood transfusions, which Mikhou was found to use, involve someone collecting and infusing blood from a compatible donor.

Autotransfusions of blood use a person’s own blood that has been stored.

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