The ITA reports that three Turkish weightlifters have committed anti-doping rule violations within a period of 12 months

The International Testing Agency (ITA) confirms as follows:

1. A sample collected in-competition (IC) by the ITA from Turkish weightlifter Hakan Sukru Kurnaz returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF)[1] for the presence of methasterone metabolite, a non-specified prohibited substance, according to the prohibited list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The athlete was able to establish that the presence of methasterone metabolite in his sample was through use of a contaminated supplement. The case was resolved via an agreement on consequences pursuant to article 8.3.1 of the anti-doping rules of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF ADR, and the equivalent provision in the World Anti-Doping Code). The athlete accepted a period of ineligibility of 22 months from 26 May 2023 and the disqualification of all competitive results from 21 April 2023 onwards.

2. A sample collected IC by the ITA from Turkish weightlifter Pelinsu Bayav returned AAFs for the presence of methasterone, stanozolol metabolites, methyltestosterone metabolite and clenbuterol, non-specified prohibited substances, according to the prohibited list of WADA. The athlete admitted to the violation under Article 10.8.1 IWF ADR and the case was resolved via an agreement on consequences pursuant to article 8.3.1 IWF ADR. The athlete accepted a period of ineligibility of 36 months from 26 May 2023 and the disqualification of all competitive results from 15 April 2023 onwards.

3. Turkish weightlifter Dogan Donen has committed an anti-doping rule violation under article 2.4 of the IWF ADR namely the occurrence of three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period.[2] The athlete accepted the consequences of the violation, and the ITA issued a sanctioning decision under Article 8.3.3 of the IWF ADR imposing a period of ineligibility of 24 months from 8 April 2024 and the disqualification of all competitive results from 1 April 2023 onwards.

Given that three athletes from the Turkish Weightlifting Federation have committed anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) within a 12-month period, this has triggered the Article 12.3[3] of the IWF ADR and provisions of the IWF Olympic Qualification System (OQS). As a result, the matter has been submitted to IWF’s Independent Member Federation Sanctioning Panel to impose appropriate consequences.

No further comments will be made on these cases.

Friday, 31 May 2024

• Anti-Doping International Testing Agency (ITA) ITA Prohibited Substances Weightlifting World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)