Six Russian weightlifters banned over doping lab data

Six Russian weightlifters including Olympic bronze medalist Ruslan Albegov have received bans based on analysis of data from the Moscow anti-doping laboratory.

Ruslan Albegov of Russia competes during men's over 105 kg weightlifting competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Six Russian weightlifters including Olympic bronze medalist Ruslan Albegov have received bans based on analysis of data from the Moscow anti-doping laboratory which was at the center of a years-long cover-up scheme.

The International Weightlifting Federation said the six athletes were found guilty by a disciplinary panel based on databases retrieved from the Moscow lab, without providing details of the individual cases.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has sorted through the vast data archive to identify cases where doping was covered up in Russia in previous years.

READ: Mirabai Chanu to work with expert physio in US

Besides Albegov, a superheavyweight medalist in 2012, the other cases included former world champion Tima Turieva and the previously banned Dmitry Lapikov, who was already stripped of a bronze medal from the 2008 Olympics. Also banned were Egor Klimonov, Yulia Konovalova and Maxim Sheyko.

All received four-year bans except for Sheyko, who was banned for six years, and Lapikov, who was banned for eight. The starts of the bans were all backdated to 2017 or 2018, reflecting the lengthy investigation process.

The IWF said eight other cases were either before the hearings panel or “at various stages of results management.” It announced provisional suspensions on Thursday against three more Russian weightlifters- Feliks Khalibekov, who was a European silver medalist, Aleksey Emelyanenko and Arsen Boraganov.