Weightlifting has made some significant strides toward rehabilitating its international prestige, but the sport continues to be mired in drug-related controversies. On Monday, June 12, 2023, the International Testing Agency (ITA) announced a provisional suspension against Kazakh weightlifter Artyom Antropov.
The ITA alleges that Antropov, who placed second at the Asian Weightlifting Championships (AWC) at 109 kilograms in May, tested positive for selective androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs. The sample from which the ITA derived their result was obtained during in-competition testing at the AWC in Jinju, South Korea.
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[Related: 2023 African Weightlifting Championships Results]
According to reporting from Inside the Games, Antropov is the third weightlifter in 2023 to test positive for a banned substance at a major competition. SARMs, while not strictly identical to anabolic steroids, enhance many of the same qualities including muscle recovery, strength, and hypertrophy.
Who Is Artyom Antropov?
Kazakhstan has long enjoyed success on the international weightlifting platform, producing athletes like two-time Olympic Champion (2008, 2012) Ilya Ilyin and 2016 Olympic Champion Nijat Rahimov. However, Kazakh weightlifting (including Ilyin and Rahimov, who have both forfeited their Olympic titles due to doping violations) has historically been mired in scandal.
Antropov, 23, has spent the better part of the last five years slowly accumulating momentum in the International Weightlifting Federation. The 2017 Youth World Champion has competed across a variety of weight categories in hopes of successfully qualifying for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
At the 2023 AWC, where his faulty sample was collected, Antropov posted a career-best competitive Total while competing at a heavier body weight:
Artyom Antropov | Recent Competition Results
- 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships: 399 kilograms (109KG) | 2nd
- 2022 World Weightlifting Championships: 385 kilograms (102KG) | 6th
- 2022 Asian Weightlifting Championships: 377 kilograms (96KG) | 3rd
- 5th Islamic Solidarity Games: 386 kilograms (102KG) | 2nd
- 2021 World Weightlifting Championships: 385 kilograms (96KG) | 4th
Note: In weightlifting, the athlete’s Total is the primary metric by which they are ranked on the competitive leaderboard. The Total represents the sum of an athlete’s best result in the snatch and clean & jerk.
Cut Short
Antropov is renowned among fans of weightlifting for his tremendous leg strength. He regularly submits ultra-heavy squats to social media and, judging by his ever-rising Total, has been able to translate that strength into his competitive results as of late.
According to the ITA’s website, the organization has yet to specify Antropov’s specific period of ineligibility. This is his first ITA sanction. That said, the 2024 Olympics loom just over a year away. Testing positive for an illicit substance so close to the most prestigious event in sports all but confirms that Antropov is out of the running for Paris.
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Featured Image: @antropov_kz on Instagram
