2 weightlifters lose London Olympic medals because of doping

Two Romanian weightlifters were stripped of their 2012 Olympic medals on Wednesday after positive doping tests, extending the record of doping cases at any Summer or Winter Games to 77. The International Olympic Committee said silver medalist Roxana Cocos and bronze medalist Razvan Martin tested positive for multiple steroids in a reanalysis of their samples.

A third Romanian, Gabriel Sincraian, also tested positive for steroids. He now faces a life ban from the International Weightlifting Federation for a third doping sanction.

All four members of Romania’s weightlifting team at the 2012 London Olympics have now been disqualified by the IOC for doping.

The latest sanctions bring the total of London doping cases to 77, five more than at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to IOC statistics.

Of those 77 cases, 68 were revealed in a reanalysis program that relied on an improved test for anabolic steroids, which detected infractions by an athlete for a longer period after use. The IOC had until August 2020, eight years after the London Olympics closed, to find positive samples, and longer to finish processing disciplinary cases.

Martin, who won a bronze medal in the men’s 69-kilogram class, tested positive for Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, Metenolone and Stanozolol, the IOC said.

The 28-year-old athlete faces a longer ban by the IWF because he previously served a two-year doping ban.

With Martin’s disqualification, North Korean lifter Kim Myong-hyok could be upgraded from fourth to get the bronze medal.

Cocos finished second in the women’s 69-kilogram class. Anna Nurmukhambetova of Kazakhstan and Ubaldina Valoyes of Colombia are next in line to be upgraded in the medals.