Redemption for ‘tainted’ weightlifters
RIO DE JANEIRO—Eight weightlifters who previously served doping bans have won medals at Rio, while others have been sent home for failed tests, highlighting again the scandal-plagued sport’s battle with drugs.
Gold medalists Nijat Rahimov of Kazakhstan, Iran’s Sohrab Moradi and Sukanya Srisurat of Thailand all spent two years banned from the sport after testing positive for illegal substances.
Another four weightlifters caught doping earlier in their careers have claimed bronze medals in Brazil, as has one silver medallist. Four athletes, including a Polish Olympic champion, were withdrawn from the competition for testing positive.
Thirteen golds have been awarded, with two still to come.
“People do cheat,” said American weightlifter Kendrick Farris.
“Hopefully, they’ll continue to do the work they’re doing and we’ll get more athletes competing clean,” he added, referring to governing body the International Weightlifting Federation.
Weightlifting has long been afflicted by doping scandals and the IWF has undertaken a major crackdown on performance-enhancing drugs.
It has led the way on anti-doping measures that are now being adopted by other sports, such as publicly naming athletes after their initial “A” sample tests positive.
The IWF banned Russia and Bulgaria, both traditional powerhouses, from competing in weightlifting at the Rio Olympics for repeated doping offences.
It punished North Korea, Romania, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Moldova as well by reducing their allocation of lifters.
The IWF had also wanted to bar Belarus and Kazakhstan over high-profile drugs scandals but the International Olympic Committee was unable to complete retesting of samples from the Beijing and London Games in time.
Kazakhstan and Belarus have been free to compete at the 31st Olympiad and have picked up four and two medals respectively, although there is absolutely no evidence of foul play.
“We are doing everything in our power to change the mentalities of some countries that might be more affected [by doping] than others,” an IWF spokesperson told AFP.
A weightlifter has yet to fail a doping test after competing in Rio, but two brothers from Poland, a Taiwanese athlete and a Cypriot were prevented from taking part after failing drugs tests before their competition started.