Five Russian weightlifters receive suspensions over doping allegations

Five Russian weightlifters, including an Olympic bronze medallist, have been provisionally suspended after being accused of doping by the International Weightlifting Federation.

Ruslan Albegov, 31, took bronze at London 2012, while 2013 women’s world champion Tima Turieva, David Bedzhanyan, Oleg Chen and Egor Klimonov have also been suspended.

The governing body said the “compelling nature of the evidence” from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) had led to the suspension.

Wada identified a “target pool” of almost 300 athletes across various sports with the “most suspicious” samples taken from the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s laboratory in Moscow.

IWF President Tamas Ajan said: “We note without any satisfaction that weightlifting was far from the only sport to have been affected by the extensive and historical Russian doping revealed by whistleblowers, the media and Wada.

“We can be satisfied, however, that the IWF has shown our determination to protect clean sport and promote clean athletes. We have not shown any hesitation in taking the right decisions.”

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