Russia, India among nations to lose Olympic spots in doping clampdown
LONDON: Five nations, including Russia, whose doping records have risked weightlifting’s place on the Olympic schedule have been limited to just two athletes for the 2020 Tokyo Games by the sport’s governing body.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) is effectively allowing Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus only two places each at Tokyo 2020 — as the new rules state that any nation with 20 or more doping violations from 2008 to 2020 will have just one man and one woman at the Games.
Countries with 10-19 doping violations over that same period will be limited to two men and two women in Tokyo. At least nine more countries, including Bulgaria, Iran and India, who have won five weightlifting gold at the CWG, fall into that category.
There could be further sanc- tions, including being banned from the Olympics, or more nations penalised if there are further doping violations before the Olympic qualifying period ends in April 2020, the IWF said. The crackdown will benefit countries with less than 10 violations from 2008-2020 as they can send up to eight qualifiers each, split equally between men and women.
The new policy has been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and been welcomed by many nations.
“This is a monumental step forward for weightlifting and for athletes around the world,” said USA Weightlifting chief executive Phil Andrews. “This new qualification system is a huge step for clean sport.” Christian Baumgartner, president of Germany’s national federation and an outspoken critic of the “doping culture” prevalent in many countries, also approved the changes. “The old system was abused by some federations but there is a new perspective with these new conditions, which provide a real chance for a level playing field,” he told Reuters.
The doping problem led to weightlifting being put on probation by the IOC, which wants constant updates — with the next one due in June. When the IOC retested samples from the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, 49 weightlifters came up positive. Forty two of them were from nations that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.
Weightlifting’s quota has been cut from 260 places in Rio in 2016 to 196. There will also be one fewer medal event in Tokyo. The sport’s place on the Olympic beyond 2020 depends on its ability to improve its doping record.