In one of the most impactful announcements in recent weightlifting history, the IWF has provisionally suspended 10 weightlifters after retests from the 2012 London Olympic Games. These include multiple medalists in both men’s and women’s weight classes.
If these suspensions are upheld and medals are rescinded from the lifters found to have been doping, the final standings from London will look markedly different in seven of the 15 weight classes. Below are what the new podium finishers would look like.
A few important notes: The 10 lifters are provisionally suspended, and there is an official process they can take in order to appeal the suspension and any subsequent competition ban. The IWF has also not explicitly stated that if the suspensions are upheld, medals will be redistributed to lifters next in placement (though that’s generally the precedent we’ve seen before). It’s also worth noting results from 2008 Beijing Olympics retests — which have not been released yet — could have some impact on lifter eligibility, and there’s also a chance more positive tests could emerge from retested London samples.
Men’s 56kg (no change):
Gold: Om Yun-Chol (North Korea)
Silver: Wu Jingbiao (China)
Bronze: Valentin Hristov (Azerbaijan)
Men’s 62kg (no change):
Gold: Kim Un-guk (North Korea)
Silver: Oscar Figueroa (Colombia)
Bronze: Eko Yuli Irawan (Indonesia)
Men’s 69kg (no change):
Gold: Lin Qingfeng (China)
Silver: Triyatno (Indonesia)
Bronze: Razvan Martin (Romania)
Men’s 77kg (no change):
Gold: Lu Xiaojun (China)
Silver: Lu Haojie (China)
Bronze: Ivan Cambar (Cuba)
**Men’s 85kg (silver medalist Apti Aukhadov suspended):
Gold: Adrian Zielinski (Poland)
Silver: Kianoush Rostami (Iran)
Bronze: Tarek Yehia Fouad Abdelazim (Egypt)
**Men’s 94kg (gold medalist Ilya Ilyin suspended):
Gold: Alexandr Ivanov (Russia)
Silver: Anatoli Ciricu (Moldova)
Bronze: Andrew Demanov (Russia)
Men’s 105kg (no change):
Gold: Oleksiy Torokhtiy (Ukraine)
Silver: Navab Nassirshalal (Iran)
Bronze: Bartlomiej Bonk (Poland)
Men’s +105kg (no change):
Gold: Behdad Salimi (Iran)
Silver: Sajjad Anoushiravani (Iran)
Bronze: Ruslan Albegov (Russia)
Women’s 48kg (no change):
Gold: Wan Mingjuan (China)
Silver: Hiromi Miyake (Japan)
Bronze: Ryang Chun-hwa (North Korea)
**Women’s 53kg (gold medalist Zulfiya Chinshanlo suspended):
Gold: Hsu Shu-ching (Taipei)
Silver: Cristina Iovu (Moldova)
Bronze: Citra Febrianti (Indonesia)
**Women’s 58kg (bronze medalist Yuliya Kalina suspended):
Gold: Li Xueying (China)
Silver: Pimsiri Sirikaew (Thailand)
Bronze: Rattikan Gulnoi (Thailand)
**Women’s 63kg (gold medalist Maiya Maneza suspended):
Gold: Svetlana Tsarukayeva (Russia)
Silver: Christine Girard (Canada)
Bronze: Sibel Simsek (Turkey)
**Women’s 69kg (bronze medalist Maryna Shkermankova suspended, 4th place finisher Dzina Sazanavets also suspended, so 5th place moves to third):
Gold: Rim Jong-sim (North Korea)
Silver: Roxana Cocos (Romania)
Bronze: Anna Nurmukhambetova (Kazakhstan)
**Women’s 75kg (gold medalist Svetlana Podobedova suspended):
Gold: Natalya Zabolotnaya (Russia)
Silver: Iryna Kulesha (Belarus)
Bronze: Lydia Valentin (Spain)
Women’s +75kg (no change):
Gold: Zhou Lulu (China)
Silver: Tatiana Kashirina (Russia)
Bronze: Hripsime Khurshudyan (Armenia)
Featured Image: Lydia Valentin‘s Instagram
**Indicates new medal standings