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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Russian weightlifter stripped of Athens bronze medal

By Karolos Grohmann

LAUSANNE (Reuters) - Russian weightlifter Oleg Perepetchenov was stripped of his 2004 Olympic bronze medal on Tuesday after a retest of his sample from the Athens Games returned positive for banned substance clenbuterol.

Russia's Oleg Perepetchenov powers a lift during the men's 77 kg weightlifting event at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 19, 2004. REUTERS/Andrea Comas

The International Olympic Committee demanded the return of his medal and his diploma "as soon as possible" from the Russian Olympic Committee, spokesman Mark Adams told reporters.

Perepetchenov, third in the 77kg category, is the fifth Athens Games medallist to be stripped of a medal following sample retests.

Ukraine's shot put champion Yuriy Bilonog, women's shot putter Svetlana Krivelyova of Russia and discus thrower Irina Yatchenko of Belarus, who both won bronze medals, and Belarussian hammer thrower Ivan Tsikhan, who won silver, were demoted in December last year.

Three-times world champion Tsikhan had also lost his bronze medal from the 2008 Beijing Games but that decision was overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) because of a laboratory procedural error.

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