From Inside the Games

Aksana Miankova of Belarus will be stripped of the Olympic hammer throw gold medal she won at Beijing 2008 after she was among the seven latest athletes to be sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as part of their ongoing retesting of samples.

The 34-year-old’s sample from the Games in the Chinese capital tested positive for two prohibited substances – turinabol and oxandrolone.

Her seventh-place result from London 2012 has also been disqualified as she failed for the same two drugs.

The IOC announcement also confirms Kazakh weightlifter Ilya Ilyin will lose his Olympic gold medals from Beijing 2008 and London 2012, won in the men’s 94 kilograms division.

The sample provided by Ilyin at Beijing 2008 was found to have contained stanozolol, while the one he gave at London 2012 also tested positive for anabolic steroid turinabol.

Miankova’s team-mate Natallia Mikhnevich has also been sanctioned and she is set to be stripped of the Olympic shot put silver medal she claimed at Beijing 2008 after her samples tested positive for methandienone and stanozolol.

Three Olympic medallists are among the seven named today, five of which are from Belarus, with one failure recorded by athletes from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan respectively.

Other Belarusian athletes sanctioned include Pavel Lyzhyn, fourth in the shot put at Beijing 2008, 800 metres runner Sviatlana Usovich, 23rd at the same Games and long jumper Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova, seventh at London 2012.

Usovich was a member of the 4×400 metres relay team which finished in bronze medal position, meaning the entire team are now set to be stripped of their medals.

Britain will be the beneficiaries of Belarus’ disqualification as they will be moved up to third as Russia, who were fourth, have also been disqualified.

Weightlifter Boyanka Kostova of Azerbaijan, fifth in the women’s 58kg weightlifting competition at the Games in London four years ago, has also been disqualified by the IOC.

As a result of Miankova’s failed test, Cuba’s Yipsi Moreno is in line to receive the Olympic gold medal in the hammer throw event at Beijing 2008, with China’s Zhang Mengxiu set to be promoted to silver.

The bronze medal will now go to Miankova’s team-mate Darya Pchelnik.

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