Russian Aukhadov stripped of 2012 Olympics weightlifting silver medal

BERLIN (Reuters) - Russia's Apti Aukhadov was stripped of the men's weightlifting silver medal he won in the 85 kg category at the London 2012 Olympics after he tested positive for banned substances in re-tests of samples, the International Olympic Committee said. The IOC said on Tuesday Aukhadov's sample came back positive for steroids turinabol and drostanolone. Iran's Kianoush Rostami won bronze and Egypt's Tarek Abdelazim finished fourth in that competition. Both athletes could be upgraded now. Ukraine's Maksym Mazuryk, who had competed in the men's pole vault event at the same Games, also tested positive for steroids in the re-tests, the IOC said. A total of 98 samples have come back as positive for banned substances in reanalysis from the 2008 and 2012 Games as the IOC attempted to root out cheats and stop them from going to the Rio Games. Several Russian athletes have been stripped of their medals from those two Games, and the country's track and field team was banned from the Rio Olympics in August following revelations of a state-backed doping system. The IOC stores samples for a decade to test with newer methods or for new substances. The ruling body conducted targeted re-tests before the Rio Olympics. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)