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Russian weightlifting team banned

July 29, 2016

Russia may have avoided a blanket ban at this summer's Olympic Games, but the entire weightlifting team will be banned in Brazil.

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Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Russia's weightlifting team has been barred from competing at the Rio Olympics in August over doping offences, the sport's governing federation said on Friday.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) said some of the Russian competitors had been named in a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency which exposed evidence of state-backed cheating in Russia.

"The integrity of the weightlifting sport has been seriously damaged on multiple times and levels by the Russians," the IWF said in a statement. "Therefore an appropriate sanction was applied in order to preserve the status of the sport."

Two of the eight-strong Russian team had already been banned for doping violations, and another four were named in the McLaren report into doping.

More than 100 Russian athletes have been excluded, including a blanket ban on the athletics team.