Russian Weightlifting Federation’s (RWF) President Maxim Agapitov met with IWF President Dr. Tamas Ajan last week in Budapest. During the meeting, Agapitov announced that the RWF would be withdrawing its appeal of the IWF’s one-year ban against the country’s weightlifting association.
The one-year ban stemmed from the reanalysis testing that was conducted this past summer on samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. The IWF stated that any country with three or more positive tests would be suspended for one year. Russia had nine athletes test positive, of which eight had won an Olympic medal.
Following the reanalysis testing, the RWF was also banned from the 2016 Olympics as part of a bigger IOC ruling that Russian officials had been involved in a large-scale doping scandal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The IWF upheld the IOC’s decision to ban Russia from the 2016 Olympics.
Agapitov, who replaced former RWF President Sergei Syrtsov following the doping scandal, stated, “Our main objective is to restore order and discipline.” He added, “Discipline in the anti-doping fight and in the organization of the training process.”
Belarus and Kazakhstan were scheduled to begin their arbitration hearings with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday, January 27. Azerbaijan, Armenia, China, Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine will also face likely bans once the IOC finalizes their cases.
