Olympics

2-time Olympic gold-medal weightlifter apologizes for doping

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Hsu Shu-ching apologized Friday for testing positive for doping and said she is willing to accept her punishment.

IOC disqualifies 3 others, including 2012 bronze medallist

Hsu Shu-Ching, of Taiwan, seen above competing in the 2016 Olympics, apologized for doping and said she was willing to accept her punishment on Friday. (Mike Groll/The Associated Press)

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Hsu Shu-ching apologized Friday for testing positive for doping and said she is willing to accept her punishment.

The Taiwanese weightlifter was told of the result last year but the news was not made public until this week.

The 27-year-old Hsu said the banned substance was contained in a dietary supplement she took ahead of the 2017 world championships.

Hsu, who retired from the sport last year citing injuries, returned a silver medal she won at the championships and resigned a coaching position. It was unclear what punishment she could face.

Tseng Wen-hung, a liaison officer with Taiwan's Olympic Committee, said Hsu "couldn't participate in relevant work or competitions."

Hsu won gold in the 53-kilogram class at the 2012 London Olympics, after the original winner, Zulfiya Chinshanlo, failed a doping retest. She also won gold at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Chronic problems with doping are threatening weightlifting's future viability as an Olympic sport, particularly one that offered opportunities for competitors from countries such as Taiwan that are rarely able to compete with sports powerhouses such as the United States, Russia and China.

Bronze medallist disqualified

The IOC disqualified three athletes, including a bronze medalist weightlifter from Azerbaijan, on Friday for doping at the 2012 London Olympics.

Valentin Hristov was stripped of his third-place finish in the 56-kilogram class. His positive test for oral turinabol, the anabolic steroid linked to East Germany's doping program in the 1970s and '80s, had been announced in December.

Hristov faces a life ban from the International Weightlifting Federation for his third doping offense.

The Bulgaria-born lifter, who turns 35 on Saturday, is already serving an eight-year ban until December 2023 for a positive test for nandrolone at the 2015 world championships in Houston. Hristov was also caught doping at the 2013 European Championships.

The bronze medal could now be allocated by the International Olympic Committee to fourth-place finisher Tran Le Quoc Toan of Vietnam.

Two athletes from Belarus also tested positive for anabolic steroids in reanalysis of their London samples, the IOC said. Men's 800-metre runner Anis Ananenka and women's hammer thrower Alena Matoshka both failed to reach the final of their events.

Over 100 athletes caught

More than 100 athletes, including dozens of medalists, have been caught in reanalysis of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics using a more sensitive test for steroids.

Most cases involved athletes from former Soviet republics, and at least six were from Azerbaijan's weightlifting team.

The IOC said retests will continue until the statute of limitations applied to the 2012 Olympics is reached next year.

Weightlifting was put under review by the IOC in 2017 after having at least 50 positive tests combined from the Beijing and London reanalysis.

This week, the Olympic body's executive board lifted a threat to remove weightlifting from the 2024 Paris Games after accepting reforms in the sport.