The news was confirmed today when the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) published the final entries for the next qualifying event in Havana, Cuba next month.

Seven men and seven women from North Korea are among the entries for the IWF Grand Prix, including world record holders, IWF World Championships medallists and an Asian Games champion.

North Korea has won more medals in weightlifting than any other sport, and five current world records are held by North Koreans.

One of them, the 2014 Youth Olympic Games champion Pak Jong-ju, lifts at 73kg in Havana.

Pak, 26, holds the 67kg clean and jerk world record of 188kg, is a former world junior champion, and took 67kg bronze in the senior IWF World Championships on his last appearance in 2019. 

He has never competed as heavy as 73kg before.

Another 26-year-old entered at 73kg, Oh Kum-thaek, does not appear on the IWF results database and may never have been tested by anti-doping agencies.

The other men’s entries from North Korea are Pang Un-chol at 55kg; the 2019 Asian junior and youth champions Kim Chung-guk, 23, and Pak Myong-jin, 20, at 61kg; Ri Chong-ong at 81kg; and Ro Kwang-ryol, 22, at 89kg.

North Korea looks strong enough to finish top of the women’s medals table in Havana.

The Americans Hayley Reichardt and Jourdan Delacruz, who would have been favourites in the 49kg category, now find that a North Korean has the highest entry total above them - Ri Gong-sum.

At 55kg, Kang Hyon-gyong from North Korea has an entry total 23kg higher than Italy’s Giulia Imperio, who is second in the list.

Other interesting contenders are Kim Il-gyong at 59kg and Rim Un-sim at 64kg.

Olivia Reeves, the most tested American lifter in recent months, has two North Koreans competing with her at 71kg, Song Kuk-hyang and Ri Suk.

At 76kg Jong Chun-hui, 25, who first lifted internationally way back in 2013 and last competed in 2017, has the highest entry total ahead of Kate Vibert from the United States.

The International Testing Agency (ITA), which carries out all anti-doping procedures for the IWF, confirmed to insidethegames 10 days ago that no North Korean weightlifters had been tested in or out of competition since 2019 and that it was "not feasible for the ITA to conduct unannounced testing in North Korea".

Many athletes from other countries have been tested dozens of times since 2019, and some of the biggest names in the sport are regularly tested at a rate of about once a month.

The many nations whose athletes have at some point been tested at that rate since the start of 2021, the date from which individual data is available on the IWF website, include Armenia, Bahrain, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mexico, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Samoa, South Korea, Spain, Tunisia, United States, Venezuela and Uzbekistan.

Athletes from Thailand and Egypt have also undergone frequent testing.

The limitation on testing athletes from North Korea "is not new and has been identified by the ITA and other international sport organisations", the ITA said.

"The ITA has been actively consulting with WADA and relevant stakeholders on this matter."

While independent testers from other countries have been unable to gain entry, North Korea’s own National Anti-Doping Organisation has been deemed “non-compliant” by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since October 2021 because of "non-conformities in implementing an effective testing programme".

Despite the apparent unfairness of the situation, no rules have been broken because there is no WADA or International Olympic Committee rule covering nations who "disappear" for long periods, and then comply with short-term doping rules when they return.

In weightlifting, where the IWF’s rules are stricter than those in other sports, athletes must give whereabouts information and be available for testing for three months before a competition.

While North Korean athletes have provided their whereabouts information, the ITA has been unable to act on it and cannot test the athletes until they compete or train outside their own country.

The IWF has voted through a change to the rules and will bar nations that do not allow in independent testers, but the ITA said this could not be enforced immediately because of operational and financial implications, and will apply "by 2024".

Today’s final entries for Cuba also confirm the eligibility of 13 Individual Neutral Athletes, all holders of a Belarus passport.

None from Russia submitted eligibility documents by the deadline of last Monday, so no Russian weightlifters can qualify as neutrals for Paris as they will be unable to take part in enough qualifying events.

A surprise name among the entries is Polina Guryeva, who stopped competing to have a child after becoming Turkmenistan’s first Olympic medallist in any sport at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, where she took silver in the women’s 59kg.

Guryeva has not competed since then and there was no indication from Turkmenistan officials at recent competitions that she was contemplating a return. She has the highest entry total of 260kg in the women’s 64kg category.