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Liu Chunhong lifts 158kg to set a world record in the women's 69kg clean & jerk at the Beijing Olympic Games. Photo: Reuters
Sport

China faces weightlifting ban after three Beijing Olympics gold medallists fail dope tests

Mainland trio stripped of their Games prizes following re-analysis of samples taken at 2008 Games

IOC (International Olympic Committee)
Reuters
Agence France-Presse
ReutersandAgence France-Presse
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China faces a one-year ban from international weightlifting competitions after three of its athletes were stripped of their 2008 Olympic gold medals on Thursday following re-tests of samples from the Beijing Games.

Cao Lei, the 75kg champion, Chen Xiexia, the 48kg gold medallist, and Liu Chunhong, who won the 69kg category, were stripped of their 2008 titles.

The Chinese trio, all aged between 31 and 34, tested positive for the banned GHRP-2, a human growth hormone.

The IWF is attempting to rid the sport of a drug-taking culture that has made it one of the most notorious Olympic events.

The IWF barred serial performance-enhancing offenders Russia and Bulgaria from competing at the Rio Games last summer.
Cao Lei sets an Olympic record of 128kg in the 75kg Group A snatch competition at the Beijing Games. Photo: Reuters

Two months before the Games the IWF adopted a resolution that said any country which returns three or more positive drugs tests from the reanalysis of samples from Beijing 2008 and London 2012 would be suspended for a year.

That would mean China potentially missing out this year on the Asian championships in April while the world championships are set for November.

In all, eight athletes were disqualified on Thursday from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics in London as part of the ongoing series of retests from 2008 and 2012.
Cao Lei holds up her gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. Photo: AP

Also disqualified were Belarus shot-putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk, who was bronze medallist in Beijing but tested positive for the steroid turinabol.

She was only promoted to the bronze medal position after compatriot Natallia Mikhnevich failed an earlier dope test.

Another Belarusian, hammer thrower Darya Pchelnik, lost her fourth spot from the 2008 Games.

Three non-medal weightlifters from the 2012 Olympics in London – Sibel Simsek of Turkey, Intigam Zairov of Azerbaijan and Armenia’s Norayr Vardanyan – were also disqualified.

In total, the IOC is reanalysing 1,243 samples from Beijing and London using testing techniques not available at the time. By the end of December, the number of positive tests from the reanalysed samples had reached 101.
Chen Xiexia sings the national anthem after receiving her gold medal for setting an Olympic record of 117kg in winning the women's 48kg Group A clean and jerk. Photo: Reuters

Weightlifting accounts for the bulk of positive tests, followed by athletics, wrestling and cycling.

The results of the new tests will feature in April during discussions to map out the programme of future summer Olympics.

“We will have to look at the results in detail, connect each sport with each country and see if it is a problem specific to each country,” said IOC president Thomas Bach recently.

“And then we will study the situation with the World Anti-Doping Agency.”

Reuters, Agence France-Presse

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Chinese medallists stripped of gold
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