Weightlifting feels the strain as an Olympic sport

The first medal to change hands at the Rio Games for doping has placed further doubt on weightlifting’s credibility as an Olympic sport.

Kyrgyzstan’s Izzat Artykov tested positive for the stimulant strychnine, which is toxic in high doses, and the 22-year-old loses his bronze medal in the 69kg category.

His medal will go to Colombia’s Luis Javier Mosquera instead, but it is the International Weightlifting Federation that has the biggest problems.