Terenteva escaped a ban, however, as she took the substance before the Olympic period, the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Terenteva used a light stimulant contained in an over-the-counter nose spray that is not banned in out-of-competition tests but was still in her body when tested in Vancouver ahead of the Games, which open tomorrow, IOC vice president Thomas Bach said.

"This is the first doping case for Vancouver," Bach told an IOC session.

"This case concerns an athlete who took a light stimulant even before the period of the Games, a light stimulant which is usually not prohibited out of competition but during the Games."

The IOC said in a statement she had tested positive for tuaminoheptane, a prohibited substance "in competition" but not "out of competition" on February 6 in a urine sample.

"During the hearing, the athlete admitted that she had used Rhinofluimucil under prescription to cure a bad head cold in January, but that she had stopped using it on February 4 2010, as she knew the substance would be prohibited during the period of the Olympic Games, starting on February 4 2010," it said.

The IOC said the prohibited substance would not have affected her performance as it would have been completely out of her system by the time of her team's first game on February 14.

This is her first anti-doping rule violation.

"This makes this case very special because she took it outside the period of the Games but it was still in the body during the Games period," Bach said.

She was very open and cooperative at the end of the disciplinary commission, [and said] that there was a violation of the rules," Bach said.

Bach said the commission chose to reprimand the athlete, considering it a "very special case."

"With regard to the consequences we thought that it would be fair to issue a reprimand for this special case rather than sending the athlete home and disqualifying her which seemed too severe in this very special case," he said.

Nevertheless it is an embarrassment for Russia, whose record on doping has come increasingly under the spotlight, leading to IOC President Jacques Rogge to speak to the country's President Dmitry Medvedev regarding the situation.

On Tuesday insidethegames had reported that Aleksandr Derevoedov, the head of the Russian anti-doping agency, had claimed that they had done everything possible to ensure that the team here would be clean.

He said: "We can with full confidence declare that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency has done everything in its power in this pre-Olympic period, so athletes will go to Vancouver fully tested and clear of doping."

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