Gorgodze returned an adverse analytical finding for two substances in a urine sample he provided in an out-of-competition test in September last year and he has also been fined €1,500 (£1,100/$2,000).

The Georgian's sample contained oxandrolone metabolite 18-Nor-Oxandrolon and stanozolol metabolite stanozolol-N-glucuronide, which are included in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2014 Prohibited List.

His suspension will be backdated to October 16, 2014, and he will not be able to take part in competition until October 2018.

Gorgodze had been Georgia's only representative at the Paralympics in Beijing in 2008, finishing eighth in the under-90 kilogram event.

He did not qualify for London 2012. 

The Georgian follows a number of powerlifters who have been charged with a doping offence after Brazilian Emerson Barbosa was banned for life following two positive tests in the space of five years back in August.

United Arab Emirates Rashed Hassan Ahmed and Kazakhstan's Oleg Gridassov were both given two-year bans for separate Anti-Doping offences committed during the 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships in Dubai.

Georgian Iago Gorgodze is the latest in a long line of powerlifters to have tested positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs ©YouTube

Those two cases came after Russia's Ilfat Mukhatarov tested positive for Indapamide ahead of the World Championships, while Ivan Palacios of Colombia was handed a reduced one-year ban after it was found he'd taken both Chlorothiazide and Hydrochlorothiazide for medical purposes.

In a seemingly never-ending doping scandal related to the sport, London 2012 silver medallist Roohallah Rostami was also given a 24 month ban back in July, while before the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Sachin Choudhary of India was allegedly sent home from the Games for failing an out-of-competition test.

The string of offences last year began in February with Libyan powerlifter Abdelrazik Baaba's two-year suspension.

In 2015, IPC Powerlifting will be continuing its "Raise the Bar - Say No! to Doping" campaign at every major competition as the governing body aims to educate athletes and teams about anti-doping.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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