REPORT: Michael O’Reilly has decided to request for ‘B’ sample to be tested

Michael O'Reilly is in a race against the clock to fight at the Olympics.

The Portlaoise middleweight tested positive for a banned substance earlier this week and was provisionally suspended from competing at Rio 2016. O'Reilly remains on the official Olympics schedule, slated to face the winner of Rodríguez (Mexico) vs Abdul-Ridha (Iraq) in the 75 kg division next Friday. Reports on Saturday suggested that O'Reilly was to move directly to the appeal process and not request his 'B' sample be tested. But, on Sunday, RTÉ reported that the 23-year-old is in fact going to have his 'B' sample examined and that O'Reilly's legal team have already lodged his case with Sport Ireland. The fact that he will do so would suggest that he believes the original result was incorrect and that he's confident of innocence being proven in his 'B' sample results. The process should take a few days which means that he will be cutting it tight to hear if he can take to the ring.