Georgia's men's shot put record holder Benik Abramyan has been provisionally suspended for a doping offence and will not take part in tonight's qualifying competition ©Getty Images

Georgia’s national shot put record holder Benik Abramyan, who was due to take part in this evening’s qualifying competition, has been provisionally suspended from competition following an adverse finding in an out-of-competition test on July 31.

The sample taken by the Independent Testing Agency (ITA) from the 36-year-old athlete, who competed in qualifying at the Rio 2016 Games and set a Georgian record of 21.11 metres on May 18 this year, was analysed at the World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Tokyo yesterday.

It showed traces of two banned steroids – dehydrochloromethyl-testosterone and metandienone, and tamoxifen.

The sample was collected by the ITA under the testing authority of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Georgia's men's shot put record holder Benik Abramyan, pictured at the Rio 2016 Olympics, has been provisionally suspended for a doping offence and will not take part in tonight's qualifying competition ©Getty Images
Georgia's men's shot put record holder Benik Abramyan, pictured at the Rio 2016 Olympics, has been provisionally suspended for a doping offence and will not take part in tonight's qualifying competition ©Getty Images

Abarmyan, whose record, set at Artashat in Armenia, puts him joint 30th in this year’s world listings, has been informed of the case and is provisionally suspended until the resolution of the matter, in line with the World Anti-Doping Code and the IOC Anti-Doping Rules.

The athlete has the right to challenge the imposition of the provisional suspension before the Court of Arbitration for Sport – Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD).

The athlete also has the right to request the analysis of the B-sample.

Given that the case is underway, the ITA said there would be no further comments during the ongoing proceeding.