Gold medalists from 2012 Olympic weightlifting fail retest of doping samples
All four of Kazakhstan’s gold medalist weightlifters from the 2012 London Olympics could have their titles stripped after testing positive for steroids in a re-analysis of samples stored from those Games.
The four reigning Olympic champions – three women and one man: Svetlana Podobedova, Maiya Maneza, Zulfiya Chinshanlo and Ilya Ilyin – were among 10 athletes who failed retests, the International Weightlifting Federation announced.
The list includes a silver medalist from Russia and bronze medalists from Ukraine and Belarus.
That means medals could be redistributed in almost half of the weightlifting classes contested in 2012.
The International Olympic Committee recently embarked on a campaign to retest hundreds of samples from London and the 2008 Beijing Games using updated technology.
The IOC has targeted athletes who could qualify for the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics.
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