Report: Russian weightlifters face one-year ban for doping

Just five days after Russia's track and field team was suspended from competing at the Olympics, the country's weightlifters are facing a ban from the International Weightlifiting Federation for doping.

Your teams. Your favorite writers. Wherever you want them. Personalize SI with our new App. Install on iOS or Android.​

Just five days after Russia's track and field team was suspended from competing at the Olympics, the country's weightlifters are facing a ban from the International Weightlifiting Federation for positive tests in the re-testing of doping samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics,

Belarus and Kazakhstan also being considered for the one-year ban for their own share of positive tests.

The IWF plans to set up an independent commission to investigate the countries with more than three anti-doping violations per year. That includes the countries that have yielded positive tests in the re-testing of the doping samples. The re-testing of doping samples from Beijing and London have led to 17 positive tests. More testing is still being done as the IWF awaits confirmation of those samples from the International Olympic Committee.

All four Kazakhstan weightlifters, who won gold medals at the 2012 Olympics, are among those who tested positive for anabolic steroids in the re-testing. Seven of 15 Olympic weightlifting medals from London could be redistributed due to the doping scandal.

• With Russians out, which U.S. stars have better chances at medaling?

The IWF also took action against doping by reducing the number of available athlete slots for the Summer Games in Rio. Athletes who test positive from the retroactive testing will not be allowed to participate at the 2016 Olympics. The IWF executive board unanimously voted to withdraw 10 quotas in addition to the two that were already withdrawn from Romania and Uzbekistan: two from Azerbaijan (one man, one woman); two from Kazakhstan (one man, one woman); two from Moldova (one man, one woman); two from North Korea (one man, one woman); two from Russia (one man, one woman) 

The IWF also rejected Russia's weightlifting federation president Sergey Syrtsov as a chairman for the European Weightlifting Federation.