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RIO DE JANEIRO -- The weightlifting competition at the Rio Olympics played out under a cloud of suspicion and scandal so severe that there are fears the sport may get booted out of future games for doping.Competitors who finished outside the medals talked openly about their hopes of moving up in the standings once lab results came back for opponents they found suspicious. Four athletes have withdrawn or been disqualified so far after testing positive, including one who was taking small doses of a substance typically used as rat poison.Russias weightlifting team was banned for bringing what the International Weightlifting Federation called disrepute to the sport. And two more powerhouses, Kazakhstan and Belarus, are set to miss next years world championships over mass doping.It has all led to some deep soul-searching for the sport as leaders hope it not only remains in the Olympics but also cleans up its act once and for all. Once a highlight of the Olympics, weightlifting is on the program for 2020, but there is no guarantee beyond that.I hope we dont have this kind of situation, International Weightlifting Federation president Tamas Ajan told The Associated Press in a recent interview when asked if his sport risked losing its Olympic status. I hope that what weightlifting is doing is good enough and we are on the program.Ajan said he hoped 2015 would be a year of shock therapy that would result in a healthier sport, but competitors in Rio de Janeiro were not confident their sport was clean.Mercedes Isabel Perez of Colombia took fourth in the womens 63-kilogram event, but was practically exuding confidence that shell eventually win a medal.We have to wait for the doping tests, she said. Who knows? Being fourth is the best because if something happens, Ill just climb on that podium.Recent developments show she may have a point.Izzat Artykov of Kyrgyzstan was kicked out of the games and stripped of his bronze medal in the mens 69-kilogram division Thursday after failing a test for strychnine. Its a toxic substance typically used as a pest killer, but in smaller doses, it can help muscular performance.Two Polish weightlifters, one a former gold medalist, were also sent home before competing, and a Taiwanese world record holder withdrew hours before her event over drug test abnormalities.Of 45 medalists from the 2012 London Olympics, at least 20 have failed doping tests at some stage of their careers and as many as 12 medals from London could be reallocated after samples were retested with new technology this year.The weightlifting federation had tried to ban Kazakhstan and Belarus from the Olympics as well, but Ajan said the International Olympic Committee had been too slow in processing doping cases in time for the ban to meet federation rules. The countries ended up winning seven medals, one of them a gold medal for Kazakhstans Nijat Rahimov, who only returned from a two-year doping ban last year.He set a world record in the clean and jerk to win gold -- a result he credited to an intense training regimen. But his opponents had doubts, questioning how he could accomplish such a feat so soon after a lengthy suspension.In a very short time it cannot happen like that, Egypts Mohamed Mahmoud said.Ajan said the Soviet Union had left a legacy of steroid use that was hard to uproot.We had to take this decision even if it is painful, Ajan said of banning Russia. To use some forbidden substances, this was a part of the Soviet training methods ... Some countries here from the former Soviet Union, they use the same possibilities. I think in the near future they will stop using everything. We try to give very strong pressure and we continue very strong control also in the future.While most doping cases are from ex-Soviet or Eastern European countries, medal contenders like China, Iran and Taiwan have all also racked up drug offenses.Ajan said his organization tested a higher proportion of its competitors than any other major sports federation, and planned to start storing samples from more competitions for retesting later.Not one sport has done as many things as we have done, he added.Russia, however, will be back at the world championships next year, Ajan said. Asked whether it faced any extra punishment beyond the Rio Olympics, Ajan praised Russia for its academic and scientific approach to training, and the Soviet Union for basically a very strong and good contribution for the sport because performance was increased.Crowds for weightlifting in Rio were enthusiastic, but rarely filled much more than half of the arena near the Olympic Park, something Ajan blamed on spectators getting lost because of a lack of signs. The crowd relied heavily on delegations of athletes and coaches from competing countries, and a big group of fans from Colombia, one of the few countries in the western hemisphere where the sport remains popular.As weightlifting tries to regain its credibility, it will have to try to shift the focus back to superhuman lifts, not chemical boosts, and show that, as Ajan put it: There is much more to weightlifting than only doping. Replica Shoes China Wholesale . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Adidas Shoes Clearance Sale .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. http://www.brandshoescheaponline.com/wholesale-air-max-china/max-90-clearance-sale.html . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. Balenciaga Triple s Wholesale . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. Nike Air Max 97 Factory Outlet .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. NEW YORK -- Connor McDavid hit the ice, chin first, and a concussion spotter at least played a part in pulling him from the game.The Edmonton Oilers captain and budding star was not stunned by the jarring trip to the ice, but that someone watching him play recently against Minnesota determined he should be evaluated for a concussion.A few days later, McDavid still wasnt happy he missed the last several minutes of the second period against the Wild before being cleared to play in the third in a game the Oilers lost in overtime.It happened at an important time of the game and it could happen at even worse times, McDavid said Tuesday. You know, what if its overtime or its a playoff push or its late in the third period and stuff like that? I think they definitely have to take that into consideration.Welcome to the NHLs latest attempt to keep players healthy -- at least above the shoulders -- as they get bigger and faster and the stakes get higher on the ice and in court.I think its a good thing, Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik said. Unfortunately, I think litigation is what finally brought it to this.The NHL is facing a class-action lawsuit over head injuries suffered by former players alleging the league had resources to do a better job preventing head trauma.This season, the league has touted enhanced changes to its concussion protocol, including adding a staff of nationally certified athletic trainers with hockey experience to monitors games on TV from NHL headquarters in New York with the power to remove players from games.Two months in, the NHL has declined to say how many players have been pulled off the ice by the anonymous spotters, nor is it detailing their diagnosis rate.The truth is, it may be tricky to track who makes the call when a player is called off the ice. Is it a spotter at league headquarters? An in-arena spotter? The medical staff behind the benches?And even with all those layers of observation, some concussions slip through the cracks and simply arent diagnosed during a game.Pittsburgh Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist provides a recent example.Hornqvist wasnt spotted by anyone remotely or up close in Washington on Nov. 16 for a possible concussion, but recalled telling the teams trainer he felt a little off, after the game and went through testing to determine if he had a concussion.dddddddddddd He did get diagnosed with a concussion and was out for two weeks, but he doesnt blame anyone for missing signs during the game.You probably get hit every single shift, so they cant take you out after every single shift, Hornqvist said.Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen, meanwhile, said he doubts hell play another shift of hockey. Franzen has not played since Oct. 10, 2015, because multiple concussions -- perhaps 10 of them, he said -- have affected his vision, given him headaches and made him so tired he has slept for two or three straight days.I think having spotters is a step in the right direction, but theres almost too much pressure on them and its only going to get worse in the playoffs, said Franzen, who had 18 postseason points in 2008 when he helped the Red Wings win their last Stanley Cup. When one of the best players gets taken out of the game, he, the coach and the GM may not like it. I do think its better for the players, but I dont have all the answers.STAY OR GOThe NHLs board of governors is scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday in Florida. ce 2018 Olympics. The NHL Players Association recently rejected the leagues offer to agree to a deal to allow the worlds best hockey players to go for gold in South Korea in exchange for extending the collective bargaining agreement through 2025.SCOTT FREEThe NHL announced Montreals Carey Price, Chicagos Patrick Kane, Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby and McDavid were leading their divisions in votes by fans for the All-Star Game. The league released the top five players in each division and none of them seems to be an out-of-place journeyman like John Scott, who was voted into last years game as a lark. Scott ended up being the All-Star MVP in part because he played despite objections he said he got from the NHL.GAME OF THE WEEKThe Western Conference-leading Chicago Blackhawks host the New York Rangers on Friday night. The Rangers are tied with Pittsburgh atop the Metropolitan Division.---AP Hockey Writers John Wawrow, Stephen Whyno and AP Sports Writer Will Graves contributed to this report. ' ' '