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Weightlifting's governing body on Thursday banned Kazakhstan's double Olympic champion Ilya Ilyin and three other gold medalists for failing dope tests at the 2012 London Olympics, AFP reports.
Ten lifters in all were banned after dozens of London samples were retested.
The International Weightlifting Federation reported on June 6 that re-analysis of samples from the 2008 Beijing Games had detected a further 10 suspect cases.
Kazakhstan's biggest Olympic hero, Ilyin took 94kg gold in at Beijing and London and was to go for a third straight title in Rio de Janeiro in August. He tested positive for anabolic steroids.
Three other Kazakh gold medalists from London -- Zulfiya Chinshanlo (53 kg), Maiya Maneza (63 kg) and Svetlana Podobedova (73 kg) -- also failed tests and were banned, the IWF said.
Others include Azerbaijan's 58kg world champion Boyanka Kostova and Russia's London 85kg silver medal winner Apti Aukhadov.
The International Olympic Committee's disciplinary commission "will meet soon to rule if the athletes have to return their medals and to determine whether they can go to Rio," the Kazakhstan weightlifting federation said in a statement.
The IOC said this month that Olympic medallists from the Beijing and London Games were being targeted as a priority as the reanalysis of old samples was reinforced.
The IOC also said its budget for anti-doping tests is being doubled to $500,000 (447,000 euros) between now and August's Olympics in Rio.
