In the substitution of the doping test of the Kazakh weightlifter Nizhat Rakhimov, it was not without the direct participation of the International Weightlifting Federation, Sport-Express writes.
Rakhimov, by decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), was stripped of the gold medal of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and suspended for eight years for violating anti-doping rules.
The publication writes about the substitution of samples, citing the case of Russian athletes in the summer of 2008 as an example. Then the doping samples did not belong to the athletes. The DNA didn't match. Because of this, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) began to pay attention to this. In turn, resourceful athletes came up with a new option - to change the samples to their own, only "clean".
As for Rakhimov, according to the source, he acted the old fashioned way three times.
"It turned out that three of his samples - from March 15, June 10 and July 16, 2016 - belong to other people. And already 25 days after the final" alien "test, Rakhimov won the Olympics in a crazy style ... Then the former Azerbaijani (he replaced citizenship in 2014) lifted an absolutely outstanding amount of 379 kilograms, 39 kilograms better than his previous personal best, and 35 kilograms better than any other result in Rakhimov's subsequent career.
Naturally, such a sum raised doubts immediately. Nizhat was asked about doping even at a press conference after the Games. "I was helped to win a tough regime and my religion," Rakhimov replied.
Not without mentioning the scandal in Kazakhstani weightlifting, against which Rakhimov remained unsullied.
“The scandal in Kazakh weightlifting broke out just a few months later. The main star, Ilya Ilyin, was deprived of two gold medals of the 2008 and 2012 Games. two people instead of the whole team.But Rakhimov, oddly enough, for the time being it did not concern.His samples were clean.
True, it was not always so. In 2013, while still playing for Azerbaijan, Rakhimov was caught on oralturinabol, a classic of weightlifting doping. He received two years of disqualification, during which he managed to quarrel with the leadership of the local federation and change sports citizenship. The Azerbaijanis did not particularly hold back the disgraced weightlifter, since he did not differ in outstanding results. But under the flag of Kazakhstan, Rakhimov changed. Over time, it became clear why," writes "SE".
The publication explained what role the International Weightlifting Federation played in the Rakhimov case.
“How, after all, did the weightlifter manage to deceive doping control three times? This case cannot be considered in isolation from what was happening in the international federation at that time. President Tamas Ayan scandalously left in those years. Professor Richard McLaren, an old acquaintance of Russia, prepared a whole report about his activities , in comparison with which many others will seem completely innocent.
For example, Ayan and his team had a specific "fee" for a negative test, depending on the level of the athlete. Leaving the presidency, he simultaneously stole almost half a million dollars from the accounts of the federation. By the way, scandals in the leadership of weightlifting continue to this day, some accusations against candidates for power are replaced by others. It seems that it is basically impossible to find a person who is absolutely “clean” from all sides,” the text says.
Recall that Rakhimov was found guilty of using a prohibited method and was disqualified for eight years from January 18, 2021 with the annulment of sports results from March 15, 2016 (the date of the first "controversial" sample).
The Kazakh weightlifter has already commented on this decision.
The Kazakhstan Weightlifting Federation also spoke.
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