North Korea Weightlifters Achieves Clean Doping Test Results

North Korea consented to be under strict scrutiny to preserve its national sport. It has been several months since the country failed to save its reputation in the United Nations. Still, weightlifting as the leading sport follows the strictest rules in the country.

This step, as long as it was approved by authorities from global sports and personally by the official bodies of the state, had legal consequences in Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at once. This makes North Korea at the vanguard of staying in the league.

A series of meetings was held to secure the position of the country. The most notable of them were with senior International Federation officials and with Mohammed Jalood, President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

The meetings resulted in an annihilation of restrictions to enter Korea with the goal of collecting doping samples.

Weightlifting, North Korea’s number one sport in terms of international achievement, has far stricter anti-doping rules than others.

After a decision taken by the IWF Executive Board in June, nations that block the entry of independent foreign testers become ineligible for IWF competitions. This means an opportunity for the state to be nationally recognized anew. Next week is the closest date following for the country to accept testers.