Twenty-eight-year-old Rahimov, who also has gold from the 2015 World Championships in his collection, has previously served a two-year sentence for the use of anabolic steroids from 2013, when he was still competing for Azerbaijan. This time, according to CAS, in four cases he manipulated urine samples and handed over a substitute.
–
His case came to light in January 2021 as part of an investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) called “Operation Arrow”, which dealt with irregularities in doping samples taken in weightlifting. According to CAS, his sentence expires in January 2029.
–
CAS ADD has ruled that Nijat Rahimov (KAZ) committed the anti-doping rule violation of urine substitution & sanctioned the athlete with 8 years of ineligibility & disqualification of results obtained from 15 March 2016, including Rio 2016 gold medal.
▶️ https://t.co/XH1sXKWo15 pic.twitter.com/jKKUwj8N2d
— International Testing Agency (@IntTestAgency) March 22, 2022
–
Opponents have pointed to Rahimov in the past, and his world record at the Rio Olympics has caused a stir. The purity of his performances was openly questioned, for example, by his Egyptian rival Mohamed Mahmoud, who won bronze in the 77 kg category. Silver should now fall to this, with Chinese Liu Xiaotun moving to the top of the podium, becoming a three-time Olympic champion. He won his last gold last year at the Tokyo Olympics in the 81 kg category and at the age of 37 he became the oldest Olympic champion among weightlifters.
—
