Korean weightlifter to receive belated Olympic bronze in Paris

Former Korean weightlifter Jeon Sang-guen will receive his belated 2012 London Olympic bronze medal this summer following the disqualification of a Russian athlete for a doping violation, the sport’s national governing body said Tuesday.

The Korea Weightlifting Federation (KWF) said Jeon will be awarded his 2012 medal in the men’s +105 kilograms event on Aug. 9 in Paris during the Olympics there.

Jeon originally finished in fourth place with a total of 436 kilograms. Ruslan Albegov of Russia had taken the bronze medal at 448 kilograms.

However, Albegov was stripped of that medal in March this year due to doping, with the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board approving the reallocation of the medal that same month.

The KWF said Tuesday reallocation plans have been finalized, and Jeon, now 43 and retired from weightlifting, will be honored a dozen years after the fact.

Jeon is one of three South Korean weightlifters who have been elevated to the podium for London 2012 following doping cases for their competitors.

Jang Mi-ran, currently vice sports minister, moved up from fourth place to third in the women’s +75kg event. Jang, who won the 2008 Olympic gold in that same division, has not yet received her 2012 medal.

In the men’s 94kg class, Kim Minjae went all the way up from eighth place to the silver medal, after all three medalists, plus those who finished fourth, sixth and seventh, were disqualified after testing positive for banned substances. Kim received his silver medal in October 2019.