BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus face one-year suspensions from international weightlifting competition following the retesting of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, which may prevent lifters from those countries competing at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
The International Weightlifting Federation on Wednesday said the final decisions on the possible bans will be made after the International Olympic Committee makes a definitive ruling on the retests. The three countries are facing bans because three or more positive cases from each were discovered during the retests.
So far, 20 weightlifting cases have been found among the 55 positives in retesting of samples from all sports which the IOC has reported, including 32 from Beijing and 23 from London.