Doping scandal at World Weightlifting Championship in Astana: 8 weightlifters await B sample analysis

A doping scandal has erupted after The 2014 World Weightlifting Championships that was held in Kazakhstan's Almaty from November 8 to 16, Tengrinews reports citing Vesti.kz.

According to a representative of the International Weightlifting Federation, two world champions Kim Un-guk from North Korea and Daniel Godelli from Albania had been suspended for doping.

Eluniversal.com wrote that Kim Un-guk’s A sample showed methyltestosterone steroid and methandriol, while Godelli had stanozolol present in his sample. The silver medalist Ri Jong-hwa from North Korea was also suspected in using doping. The sample of the weightlifter’s blood showed the presence of clenbuterol. Moreover, two weightlifters from Albania and three weightlifters from Uzbekistan, too, have allegedly used doping. The decision will be reached after the analysis of the B samples. If the B samples fail to prove the use of doping, the whole doping tests will be considered negative.

Meanwhile, the International Weightlifting Federation officially declared that the athletes were “provisionally suspended in view of a potential anti-doping rule violation”.

If the B samples of the medal winners return positive results, a number of Kazakhstani athletes will get medals or improve their standing. One of them is Kiril Pavlov who competed in the -77kg weight category. If Godelli is disqualified for doping, the medal’s table will shift giving Pavlov a bronze medal. The Chinese weightlifter Zhong Guoshun will get the gold, while Kim Kwang-song will be awarded the silver instead of the bronze medal.

The Kazakhstani weightlifter Karina Goricheva, too, has a chance to improve her results from the 2014 World Weightlifting Championships. In case the World Champion Romela Begaj from Albania is tested positive for doping, Goricheva will be awarded the gold instead of the silver medal.

The weightlifter who won the championship in the women’s -75 kg weight category Kim Un-ju could also be disqualified for doping. This gives Anna Nurmukhambetova of Kazakhstan a chance to improve her standing and move from the 6th to the 5th place.

All in all there are 8 weightlifters who are suspected in using doping at the World Weightlifting Championship.

The IWF Executive Board adopted the New Anti-Doping Rules during the meeting in Almaty. The new rules are based on the revised 2015 World Anti-Doping Code to be effective as of the 1st January 2015.

The Article 9 of the new Anti-Doping Rules state: “An anti-doping rule violation in Individual Sports in connection with an In-Competition test automatically leads to Disqualification of the result obtained in that Competition with all resulting Consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes. “Points” include any points credited to a 33 Member Federation for the purposes of qualification for the upcoming Olympic Games.”

By Gyuzel Kamalova