Belarus weightlifter banned for urine swap ahead of Olympics

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Belarusian weightlifter Stanislav Chadovich has been banned for four years for trying use substitute urine in a pre-Olympic doping test.

Chadovich had been entered into the 62-kilogram category at last year's Rio de Janeiro Games and was considered a medal contender before he was withdrawn from competition with no explanation.

The International Weightlifting Federation said Chadovich was found guilty of trying to tamper with a doping test sample in an out-of-competition check, but did not specify how the subterfuge was detected. Previous cases have typically involved athletes using hidden tubes to fill their sample with clean urine.

Using another person's urine can be detected with a DNA test of the sample.

The four-year suspension for Chadovich, a former European championship silver medalist, is backdated to July 29, shortly before the Olympics began.

It comes as Belarus already faces a one-year ban from international weightlifting after several lifters failed retests of their doping samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

Weightlifting is already facing a doping crisis with more than 49 cases of lifters from around the world failing the 2008 and 2012 retests. Yet more tested positive during or shortly before last year's Olympics in Rio.

The Russian team missed the Olympics altogether after being found guilty by the IWF of bringing weightlifting into disrepute with numerous doping cases.