Four Russians, including world record holder Alexei Lovchev, have been banned for doping by the International Weightlifting Federation.
The Russian Weightlifting Federation says the 26-year-old Lovchev, who won a world title in Houston in November, has been suspended for four years.
Russian teammates Alexei Kosov and Olga Afanasyeva were also outed for four years, while former European champion Olga Zubova was given an eight-year ban for a second offence.
Zubova, who failed a test at the 2013 world championships, had been competing again at the worlds only one month after her last doping ban expired.
The federation said in a statement it planned to appeal Lovchev's ban, claiming a mistake in the laboratory analysis, but did not dispute the other sanctions.
Lovchev was found to have traces of the growth hormone Ipamorelin in his 'A' sample - a urine sample - and was provisionally suspended on December 24.
"Yesterday evening, I received a letter from the international federation regarding my four-year disqualification," Lovchev told the TASS news agency on Tuesday.
"I don't agree with this decision. Together with my lawyers, I will fight this verdict at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We have all the grounds in order to do this," he added.
Russia was suspended from world athletics last year after a doping investigation exposed widespread cheating and corruption.
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