Uzbek wrestler Artur Taymazov has been stripped of his gold medal from the 2012 London Games, the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday, after his reanalysed samples tested positive for banned steroids.
It is the second gold medal taken away from the 40-year-old after his win in the 120-kilogramme category at the Beijing 2008 Games was similarly disqualified.
“Re-analysis of Taymazov’s samples from London 2012 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substance Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone [oral turinabol],” the IOC said in a statement.
In 2017, the world’s top sports court CAS said a reanalysis of his Beijing samples returned positive for turinabol as well as stanozolol.
Taymazov has one remaining gold medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics, but those samples cannot be tested under the IOC’s reanalysis programme as the timeframe has expired.
He also still has a silver medal from the 2000 Sydney Games and is a double world champion.
Since retiring he has pursued a career as a politician in Russia.
