After setting a new world record clean & jerk at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships in Houston, Russian superheavyweight Aleksey Lovchev was suspended for a positive doping test. Lovchev appealed the decision, claiming he hadn’t knowingly taken banned substances, and subsequently appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland.
Now, the CAS has officially ruled on Lovchev’s appeal, and the IWF’s original suspension will be upheld. Lovchev still faces a 4-year ban from international competition, and his record — and 2015 World Title — will be stripped.
Lovchev’s 264kg clean & jerk shook the world — and more locally, the Houston, Texas stage — but the 27 year old lifter won’t be a force on stage for some time. It’s unclear if Lovchev plans to retire or train through his suspension, but he’s already responded to the denied appeal in a post on Instagram.
Oh, and it features him snatching 215kg — from the blocks, but we’re not going to criticize that as a technicality with this kind of weight — so clearly he’s staying physically strong. Lovchev has gone as heavy as 220 of the blocks on video, so we guess this is a bit routine for him at this point?
Fellow Russian superheavyweight Chingiz Mogushkov was the first to respond to Lovchev’s post; his words of encouragement are posted below, translated from Russian via Google Translate.
Lech, you have proved you are strong Th athlete around the world, it is necessary to prove Th schya you are strong in spirit. Friend, we are always with you and always will support you !!!!
