Middle-Heavyweight (≤94 kilograms), Men

This class matched the last three World Champions – Roman Konstantinov of Russia (2007), Kazakhstan’s Ilya Ilyin (2006), and Azerbaijani Nizami Paşayev (2005). In the B Group, held in the afternoon, Konstantinov’s teammate, Khadzhimurat Akkayev, lifted 185.0 kg in the snatch, which nobody would match in the A Group. He then cleaned & jerked 217.0 kg and predicted that his total of 402.0 kg would win the gold medal. However, Poland’s Szymon Kołecki, world record holder in the clean & jerk, lifted 224.0 kg in that lift and totalled 403.0 kg. He was then beaten by Ilyin who put up 226 kg in the clean & jerk to win the gold medal with a total of 406.0 kg. Paşayev had the best snatch in Group A with 181.0 kg but struggled in clean & jerk and placed only fifth, while Konstantinov was never a factor, finishing eighth.

Akkayev’s total held on for a rare B Group bronze medal, but he was not happy. He started in the B Group because of his low starting weight which he attributed to his coach, noting, “My coach is a jerk. If I had competed in Group A I would have won the gold.” Ilyin would return in 2012 and defend his gold medal in London.

That was how the event and the results seemed to have ended. In 2015, however, the IOC began re-testing samples from the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, using newer, more advanced testing techniques, in an effort to find those who had used performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), but in whom it could not be detected at the time of those Olympics. This was one of the many events affected.

In November 2016, the standings completely changed when Ilya Ilyin (KAZ / gold), Khadzhimurat Akkayev (RUS / bronze), and Nizami Paşayev (AZE / 5th) all tested positive for anabolic steroids, and were all disqualified. The medals were re-assigned as follows: Gold – Szymon Kołecki (POL); Silver – Arsen Kasabijew (GEO); and Bronze – Yoandry Hernández (CUB).

In 2012 Ilya Ilyin again seemed to win the gold medal in this class, but in November 2016, his sample from the London Games also re-tested positive, that time for turinabol (dehydrochloromethyltestosterone) and stanozolol. He was again disqualified, making him the only Olympian ever to lose two gold medals at different Games for PED usage.