RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A weightlifter from Kyrgyzstan became the first athlete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to be stripped of a medal after failing a drug test, while a Chinese swimmer and Brazilian cyclist were also disqualified Thursday and a Moldovan canoeist was suspended and could lose his bronze medal.
Weightlifter Izzat Artykov tested positive for strychnine — banned as a stimulant — after winning the bronze in the men's 69-kilogram division, the Court of Arbitration's anti-doping division said.
The 22-year-old lifter's medal was taken away and he was kicked out of the games.