Renowned weightlifter and 2005 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Champion Dmitry Klokov of Russia has been charged by the International Testing Agency (ITA) for the use of a banned substance along with five other Russian weightlifters.
The samples that included banned substances were retests from 2012 and 2013. The following athletes have been charged for various drug-related violations, according to the IWF. Inside the Games originally reported the news.
Weightlifters Charged By ITA For Doping Offenses
- Dmitry Klokov (105KG)
- Svetlana Tzarukaeva (63KG)
- Natalya Zabolotnaya (75KG)
- Apti Aukhadov (85KG)
- Aleksandr Ivanov (94KG)
- Olga Zubova (75KG)
Note: Several of these athletes competed prior to 2018 when the IWF reorganized their bodyweight categories.
Klokov won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the 105-kilogram weight class. In addition to his World Championship victory in 2005, he has four more podium finishes at that competition — silver medals in 2010 and 2011, and bronze medals in 2006 and 2007.
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Zubova won a gold medal at the 2013 European Championships but was disqualified from the 2013 and 2015 IWF World Championships. Ivanov still holds gold medals from the 2010 and 2013 IWF World Championships but was disqualified from the 2012 London Olympic Games — as was Aukhadov, Zabolotnaya, and Tsarukaeva.
The doping charges could threaten Aukhadov’s gold medals from the 2013 IWF World Championships and the 2013 European Championships, Ivanov’s gold at the 2013 IWF World Championships, and Zubova’s gold from the 2012 European Championships.
Russia, Weightlifting, and Doping
The doping charges are a result of two investigations — one by professor Richard McLaren, who authored the McLaren Report which revealed financial corruption and doping cover-ups by the IWF, and one by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The six athletes charged by the ITA have been informed and are provisionally suspended until their cases are resolved.
Since 2019, 33 Russian weightlifters have been charged with doping violations and have been banned or provisionally suspended as a result. Russia was banned from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and their two weightlifters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games represented the Russian Weightlifting Federation (RWF) rather than their home country.
As of March 3, 2022, the IWF suspended the participation of all athletes, team officials, and technical officials from Russia and Belarus until further notice in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Featured image: @klokovd on Instagram
