Loved-up figure skating couple struck down as Laura Barquero caught in Winter Olympics doping scandal

Spanish figure skater Laura Barquero has become the fourth athlete to fail a doping test at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the International Testing Agency said on Tuesday.

Barquero and her partner Marco Zandron, who are in a long-term relationship off the ice, finished 11th in the pairs competition.

The 20-year-old tested positive for the banned steroid clostebol in a sample taken after the short program on Friday.

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Barquero’s case will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Spanish Olympic Committee said in a statement that it had received notification of the anomalous finding of a “Spanish athlete” without naming the skater.

“From the Spanish Olympic Committee we are waiting for the result of the counter-test, a result that every athlete has the right to request,” it added.

The news arrived just hours after Zandron issued a proud statement on the couple’s campaign.

“I have tried to describe the feelings and emotions I experienced during these seven days of pure euphoria, but not once have I actually managed to express what I feel,” he wrote in Spanish.

“I will limit myself to hoping that I have inspired and intrigued the younger generations.

“In fact, I believe that I do not know or that there are no adequate words to describe what you feel.

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“Looking back at August 2020, when I was starting my partnership with Laura Barquero, I could never believe that with one and a half year’s work we could have made it this high.

“I want to take this 11th place in our Olympic debut as a prize that shows