Ilya Ilyin: I earned my medals honestly

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Kazakhstani weightlifter Ilya Ilyin, who was temporarily suspended from competitions due to violation of anti-doping regulations, states that he earned his Beijing and London Olympic medals honestly, Kazinform reports.

“They want to revoke my medals. I do not want to return the medals, because I earned them honestly.  I am confident in myself and I will fight for them,” said the athlete at a meeting with mass media.

Ilyin said he will attract foreign lawyers, who will defend him.

“Yesterday I talked to the Weightlifting Federation about attraction of foreign lawyers, since we are less experienced in this issue,” he noted.

According to him, it is not the first time when politics and doping scandals march in step in sport. In turn, Ilya Ilyin, foreign specialists, the Olympic Committee and the Weightlifting Federation will exert every effort to solve the situation and defend the medals.

Besides, in Ilyin’s opinion, someone wants to exclude weightlifting from the Olympic movement.

“In my personal opinion, some people want just to exclude weightlifting from the Olympic Games and introduce another sports event.  We must fight to retain it  and to prove who is the strongest one,” he concluded.

Recall that the International Weightlifting Federation announced the results of the recheck of blood samples of the Beijing and London Olympic Games winners. Prohibited substances were identified in Ilyin’s sample too.