Three-time Olympic champion Lyu tests positive for doping
- Dec. 22, 2022 02:14 PM EST
FILE - Lyu Xiaojun of China celebrates on the podium after winning the gold medal in the men's 81kg weightlifting event, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 31, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Three-time Olympic weightlifting champion Lyu Xiaojun has tested positive in a doping case. The International Testing Agency says Lyu tested positive for the endurance boosting hormone EPO on Oct. 30, 2022 while he was training. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file)

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Three-time Olympic weightlifting champion Lyu Xiaojun of China has tested positive in a doping case, the International Testing Agency said Thursday.

The ITA said Lyu tested positive for EPO, an endurance boosting hormone banned in sports, on Oct. 30 while he was training.

The Chinese star is provisionally suspended while a disciplinary case is prosecuted.

Now aged 38, Lyu said on winning a third straight Olympic title in Tokyo last year that he would target a fourth at the 2024 Paris Games.

He was the oldest-ever weightlifting gold medalist when he won the men’s 81-kilogram category in Tokyo.

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