Weightlifting doping scandal could see Georgian named champion

A Georgian weightlifter could be crowned winner of the recent World Weightlifting Championships afer several athletes were suspended for suspected doping.

The winning contestant from Russia was one of several athletes who were suspended from last month's tournament.

Georgia's Lasha Talakhadze claimed silver in the 105+kg category of the championship, which ran from November 20-28 in Houston, the United States (US). He scored a combined 454 points from two weightlifting disciplines - Snatch, and Clean and Jerk.

The result saw the Georgian finish second to Russia's Aleksei Lovchev, who scored a record-breaking 475 points and took the gold medal.

On Thursday however the competition's ruling body, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), announced Lovchev among a list of 23 athletes who failed the contest's doping test and were therefore provisionally suspended from its results.

Talakhadze scored a combined 454 points in the World Championships. Photo from International Weightlifting Federation.

The IWF announcement said the banned substance ipamorelin was found in Lovchev's system.

Combined with three competitors whose failed doping test results were made public on December 16, the 26 suspended contestants of the competition were from Azerbaijan, Russia, North Korea, Greece, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Belarus.

If confirmed, the failed doping tests will see the respective athletes having their results disqualified, crowning Talakhadze, 22, category champion of the top international weightlifting tournament.

Talakhadze was one of 748 tournament participants and competed alongside six other Georgians at the event.