Russian weightlifters banned from Rio Olympics

The International Weightlifting Federation elected to ban them from the upcoming Games.

Russian weightlifters banned from Rio Olympics

Russian weightlifters will not be allowed to compete at the Olympics after the International Weightlifting Federation elected to ban them from the upcoming Games.

Having already had two quota places removed for previous doping violations, the IWF ruled that the remaining eight Russians would also not be allowed to compete in Rio following the reanalysis of samples from the Beijing and London Games.

Aside from athletics, where all bar Florida-based Darya Klishina have been banned from competing at Rio, weightlifting is the only other sport to exclude all Russians after each individual governing body was asked to make a call on a sport-by-sport basis.

"The integrity of the weightlifting sport has been seriously damaged on multiple times and levels by the Russians, therefore an appropriate sanction was applied in order to preserve the status of the sport," said an IWF statement.

The decision has been made less than 10 days before the weightlifting commences in Rio and the IWF insist they adopted their strong stance following a series of suspicious test results which emerged from the previous two Games.

"We would like to highlight the extremely shocking and disappointing statistics regarding the Russian weightlifters," they said.

"As of today there are seven confirmed AAFs (adverse analytical findings) for Russian weightlifters from the combined reanalysis process of London and Beijing, while the second wave of Beijing reanalysis is not yet in a stage when the names and countries involved can be publicly disclosed."

Russians hoping to compete in the boxing, golf, gymnastics, handball and taekwondo are still waiting to hear from the respective federations on whether they will be banned or not.

However, three table-tennis players from the country, Polina Mikhailova, Maria Dolgikh and Alexander Shibaev, have now been told they can participate by the The International Table Tennis Federation.

And though 11 Russian boxers could be allowed to compete alongside the dozen-strong British team out in Brazil, Nicola Adams and others are not allowing the uncertainty to disrupt their preparations.

"The AIBA and the IOC are doing their job to make sure anybody participating will be clean," she said.

"They are doing their job and it's important I stick to mine, focus on getting ready and winning those gold medals."

more courts articles

‘Suicide mission’ to threaten Roman Abramovich associate, court told ‘Suicide mission’ to threaten Roman Abramovich associate, court told
Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson arrives at court to face sex charges Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson arrives at court to face sex charges
Case against Jeffrey Donaldson to be heard in court Case against Jeffrey Donaldson to be heard in court

More in this section

Dublin v Derry - Allianz Football League Division 1 Final Brian Fenton regrets reacting to 'hurtful, dangerous, kind of nasty' challenge against Derry
Clare v Limerick - Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 5 Declan Hannon wants to change Limerick's Ennis record
Irish Life Dublin Marathon 2023 Dublin Marathon to retain city centre start and finish
ieStyle Live 2021 Logo
ieStyle Live 2021 Logo

IE Logo
Outdoor Trails

Discover the great outdoors on Ireland's best walking trails

IE Logo
Outdoor Trails

Sport
Newsletter

Latest news from the world of sport, along with the best in opinion from our outstanding team of sports writers

Sign up
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited