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Aurimas Didzbalis, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in weightlifting, tested positive for doping, the International Testing Agency said Thursday.
Didzbalis, 34, is one of seven athletes who participated in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and tested positive after reanalysis of their samples. Samples taken at the Olympic Games are stored and can be reanalyzed up to 10 years after their event to allow for further advances in doping science.
“The majority of these positive results from new analyzes are mainly due to technical advances,” the ITA said, with more sensitive detection of traces of steroids.
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Aurimas Didzbalis gestures during the men’s 94 kg final competition of the 2017 European Weightlifting Championships in Split, Croatia, on April 7, 2017. (Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Didzbalis, along with three other athletes with positive tests, tested positive for the anabolic steroid danabol. Sprinter Ivet Lalova of Bulgaria, who placed eighth in the women’s 200 meters final, tested positive for ostarine, which has steroid-like effects.
Didzbalis, after the new test, faces disqualification by the International Olympic Committee and could be stripped of his medal. The fourth-place lifter was Sarat Sumpradit of Thailand.
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Adam Maligov, Aurimas Didzbalis and Dmytro Chumak take the stage for the medal ceremony for the men’s 94kg final competition at the 2017 European Weightlifting Championships in Split, Croatia. April 5, 2017. (STRINGER/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
The 34-year-old’s positive test is not the first time he has tested positive for steroids. Didzbalis also tested positive for doping before the 2012 London Olympics and at the 2017 World Championships in Anaheim, California.
“Athletes will also be provisionally suspended by their respective international federation,” the ITA said.
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Aurimas Didzbalis reacts while competing in the men’s 94kg weightlifting event at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. August 13, 2016. (GOH CHAI HIN/AFP via Getty Images)
The new Olympic doping cases included four in weightlifting and one in judo, one in wrestling and one in athletics.
Two of the athletes came from Egypt, one from Belarus, Brazil, the Olympic venue, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Uzbekistan.
