Iranian Alpine skier Hossein Saveh Shemshaki has been provisionally suspended after becoming the first athlete to return a positive doping test at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed on Wednesday that Shemshaki, who was due to compete in his third Games, tested positive for an anabolic steroid.

Shemshaki, 36, returned an "adverse analytical finding" in an out-of-contest test on Monday, the ITA said.

"The athlete is prevented from competing, training, coaching, or participating in any activity, during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022," the ITA added in a statement.

"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."

Shemshaki was Iran's flag bearer at Sochi 2014, where he took part in the slalom and giant slalom events, as he did four years earlier in Vancouver.