Bobsleigh hopefuls Brazil had to drop one of their squad members after he failed a drug test, the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) announced on its website.

Armando dos Santos tested positive for the banned steroid Nandrolone in January this year, the COB said in an official statement.

"It's a real surprise, we were hoping that it wasn't true," Eric Maleson, the head of the Brazilian Winter Sports Federation said.

The 24-year-old Dos Santos, who was to compete in the four-man bobsleigh, will return immediately to Brazil and will be replaced by Claudinei Quirino who won a silver medal with the Brazilian 4x100m relay team at the Summer Olympics in Sydney in 2000.

The four-man bobsleigh competition gets underway on 24 February (Day 14).

AFP