Lu Xiaojun reacts after winning the gold in 81kg weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics in June 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)
China's three-time Olympic champion Lu Xiaojun has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance, the International Testing Agency (ITA) said on Thursday.
Lu said he was shocked by the result and denied using any type of banned substance in a statement released by China's Weighlifting Association today.
"I will cooperate with the investigation and prove my innocence," said Lu.
Lu returned the positive sample during an out-of-competition test on October 30, said the ITA, which oversees the bulk of the International Weightlifting Federation's (IWF) anti-doping program.
Lu, who became the oldest man to win Olympic gold in weightlifting when he claimed the 81kg title in Tokyo last year, tested positive for erythropoietin, a prohibited peptide hormone.
Lu won gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics in the 77kg category.
"I believe that the value of sport is fair play, and I am firmly against doping and other types of cheating, which is the bottom line I have always set for myself," Lu said in the statement.
"Doping is completely against my values and runs contradictory to how I have been educated," he added.
"I have undergone hundreds of tests during my 24-year career, and none of them returned positive. I love weightlifting deeply and have won all my awards honestly. I don't have the motive or reason to cheat during the last leg of my career," Lu said in the statement.
