In weightlifting in 2025, more athletes tested than the year before, seven positive findings recorded
The International Weightlifting Federation has published new data on the anti-doping programme carried out for it by the International Testing Agency, according to which more female and male weightlifters were tested during 2025 than a year earlier, while the number of adverse analytical findings for samples from that year fell to seven. According to the IWF announcement of 15 May 2026, a total of 3068 samples were collected worldwide in 2025, of which 1660 were in competition and 1408 out of competition. Those samples, the federation states, led to 2394 completed tests carried out on 1150 athletes from 131 countries. For comparison, the IWF previously stated for 2024 that 1078 lifters from 120 countries were tested, which means that the coverage of athletes and countries in the most recently processed year was broader, although the total number of samples was lower.The data are important because weightlifting has for years been among the sports with the most demanding anti-doping legacy. After a period in which re-analyses of Olympic samples and numerous sanctions seriously undermined the sport's credibility, the IWF transferred a large part of anti-doping work to the independent International Testing Agency. According to announcements by the IWF and ITA, that cooperation has now been extended by a contract for the period from 2025 to 2028, that is, until the Olympic cycle leading to the Games in Los Angeles. Precisely for that reason, the latest statistics are not only a technical overview of the number of tests, but also an indicator of the direction in which the international federation is trying to prove that it can maintain a stricter and more transparent control system.
Fewer positive findings, broader coverage of athletes
According to the official IWF announcement, seven adverse analytical findings relating to samples from that year were recorded in 2025. The same source states that there were 14 in 2024, and 28 in 2023. The federation interprets that the decline in the number of such findings could be connected with a more targeted and structured approach to anti-doping controls, the expansion of educational programmes and stricter requirements relating to the categorisation of national federations. Such an interpretation should be read cautiously, because a smaller number of positive findings does not in itself prove the disappearance of doping, but in combination with broader coverage of tested athletes it points to a system that is trying to shift the emphasis from the mere number of samples to risk assessment and targeted controls.In the statistics for 2025, the IWF also lists 24 confirmed anti-doping rule violations for which appropriate sanctions were imposed. It is important to note that some of those cases occurred before 2025, so that number should not be directly equated with the seven adverse analytical findings from samples collected during last year. In the anti-doping system, proceedings often last for months or years, especially when they involve appeals, results of additional analyses, data from the athlete biological passport or cases arising from retesting older samples. For that reason, annual statistics as a rule simultaneously show the current scope of testing and the legal consequences of cases that may originate from earlier periods.For 2025, the IWF also published the distribution of samples by type: 2280 samples were urine samples, and 788 were blood samples. Blood tests are especially important for the athlete biological passport, a system used to monitor changes in biological markers over time and which can warn of possible manipulations even when an individual test does not directly reveal the presence of a prohibited substance. Urine tests remain the most widespread tool in detecting many prohibited substances, including anabolic steroids, diuretics and other substances traditionally associated with anti-doping rule violations in strength sports. The combination of these methods enables broader monitoring, especially in a sport in which the differences between a medal and finishing outside the podium are often very small.
Comparison with the Olympic year 2024
In 2024, according to data previously published by the IWF and ITA, 3324 samples were collected, that is, more than in 2025. At that time, 1889 samples were taken during competitions, and 1435 out of competition, while a total of 2486 completed tests were carried out on 1078 athletes from 120 countries. That year was an Olympic year, so the programme was also directly connected with participation at the Games in Paris. In the announcement for 2024, the IWF particularly emphasised that all athletes who competed in the Olympic tournament in Paris had been tested before the event and that tests connected with their participation were negative.A comparison of the two years shows a more complex picture than a simple claim that more or less testing was done. In 2025, according to the IWF announcement, fewer samples were collected in total than in 2024, but more individual athletes and more countries were tested. This means that the programme had a broader global reach, although the number of individual samples was lower. Such a shift can be explained by the different structure of the calendar after the Olympic year, but also by an effort to distribute controls among a larger number of athletes, especially in a system that increasingly uses risk assessment, performance data, information from investigations and minimum testing requirements before major competitions.Weightlifting in Paris 2024 had a significantly reduced Olympic programme compared with earlier cycles, which was part of a broader process of oversight and reforms. The International Olympic Committee kept the sport in the programme for Los Angeles 2028 under the pressure of expectations that governance and anti-doping system reforms would continue. In that context, every annual statistic from the IWF and ITA also has a political dimension: it shows international sports institutions, athletes and the public that the programme does not rely only on occasional campaigns, but on continuous monitoring. Such continuity is especially important for sports in which trust had already been seriously damaged.
What the International Testing Agency does
The International Testing Agency is an independent organisation that carries out anti-doping programmes for international federations and organisers of major sporting events. In the case of weightlifting, the ITA acts on behalf of the IWF and manages key parts of the system, including testing, results and public announcements of sanctions in cases in which the IWF has results management authority. According to ITA information, the list of sanctions published on its website does not necessarily represent a complete overview of all sanctions in the sport, because some decisions may also be made by other anti-doping organisations according to their own rules. Nevertheless, the public announcement of cases is an important part of transparency, especially when it concerns provisional suspensions and periods of ineligibility.The IWF and ITA have been cooperating since the end of the last decade, and the new announcement about a four-year contract for the period 2025 - 2028 confirms that this model will continue. According to the IWF, the contract covers the implementation of the federation's anti-doping programme, while the ITA emphasises in its announcement that the continuation of the partnership should support clean weightlifting up to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and beyond. Such a model responds to the requirement that anti-doping procedures be separated as much as possible from the political and sporting interests of the federations themselves. For athletes, this is important because the system must at the same time protect the integrity of competition and their procedural rights.The independence of results management is an especially sensitive topic in a sport in which one positive analysis can erase a medal, change the competition ranking or end a career. Procedures therefore have to be strict, but also legally sustainable. The anti-doping system distinguishes between an adverse analytical finding, a provisional suspension, a confirmed rule violation and a final sanction. An athlete has the right to an explanation, analysis of the B sample where applicable, presentation of a defence and an appeal according to the rules of the system. For that reason, the public should not automatically interpret every initial finding as a final verdict, although provisional measures can immediately affect the possibility of competing.
Education as part of control, not merely an addition
In the report for 2025, the IWF also states that the IWF and ITA received 23 requests for therapeutic use exemptions, known by the English abbreviation TUE. Such exemptions allow an athlete to use an otherwise prohibited substance or method when there is a justified medical need and when strict conditions are met. The number of requests does not in itself indicate abuse, but rather the functioning of a system in which medical cases must be reported and assessed according to the rules of the World Anti-Doping Code. For athletes in the international calendar, this is especially important because responsibility for what is found in the body is generally applied very strictly.In addition to testing, the IWF highlights the growth of educational activities. According to the official announcement, during 2025 there were 867 participants in webinars and seminars from 89 nationalities, while in 2024 there were 611 participants from 77 countries. This increase shows that the anti-doping programme is increasingly also focused on prevention, that is, on an attempt to ensure that athletes, coaches and members of support teams understand the rules before violations occur. Education is especially important in matters of dietary supplements, medicines, therapeutic exemptions and whereabouts obligations for out-of-competition testing.In practice, education cannot replace testing, but it can reduce the number of violations arising from ignorance, poor judgement or poor organisation of the support team. Weightlifters often work in systems in which nutrition, recovery and medical care differ from country to country, so the international harmonisation of knowledge is one way to reduce risk. According to announcements by the IWF and ITA, educational activities are also connected with major competitions, including seminars, information booths and mandatory programmes for participants. In this way, the anti-doping message is being directed not only to elite athletes, but also to younger categories and national federations that are still building their own support systems.
The World Championships in Norway as an example of the new approach
The programme for the 2025 IWF World Championships in Førde, Norway, showed how anti-doping monitoring is increasingly moving into the period before the competition itself. In October 2025, the ITA announced that, on behalf of the IWF, it was conducting a comprehensive programme that includes pre-competition testing, controls during the championships, the athlete biological passport, monitoring of results, intelligence and investigative activities and mandatory education. According to that announcement, by 29 September 2025, 82 percent of athletes entered for the championships had been tested at least once out of competition in the previous six months. Such data show that the emphasis is not placed only on the day of performance, but also on the period in which preparation, recovery and potential manipulations may take place.For weightlifting this is especially significant because prohibited substances do not necessarily have to be used immediately before competition in order to affect the result. Some substances and methods are connected with long-term increases in strength, faster recovery or changes in body mass, so testing only at the competition may be insufficient. Precisely for that reason, unannounced controls, biological passports and analysis of sporting results are increasingly used in the modern anti-doping system. If unusual progress or a pattern of performances coincides with other information, an athlete may become the subject of targeted testing, which is more effective than a completely random approach.Such a system, however, requires significant resources and cooperation from national federations. The IWF's rules on the categorisation of members should encourage federations to meet minimum anti-doping requirements before athletes compete at the biggest competitions. According to the IWF, stricter requirements for national federations are one of the possible reasons for the decline in the number of adverse findings. If that trend is confirmed in the coming years as well, it could mean that preventive pressure and conditions for participation work before a positive test occurs. But such a conclusion will require observation over a longer period, because annual figures can change depending on the calendar, the number of competitions, testing priorities and new detection methods.
The numbers do not close the question of doping, but they change the tone of the debate
The latest statistics from the IWF and ITA give the federation an argument that the anti-doping programme in weightlifting has become broader, more structured and increasingly focused on prevention. Seven adverse analytical findings for samples from 2025 is significantly fewer than 14 in 2024 and 28 in 2023, while the number of tested athletes rose to 1150 from 131 countries. At the same time, the decline in the total number of samples from 3324 in 2024 to 3068 in 2025 shows that the effectiveness of the programme cannot be assessed by one number alone. What matters is how the tests are distributed, who was tested, when the samples were collected and whether the controls are connected with a clear risk assessment.For athletes who compete without breaking the rules, a credible control system is as important as the medal itself. If there is a belief that doping is not being dealt with decisively enough, the results lose value for both competitors and the audience. If the system is too closed or unclear, athletes may lose confidence in procedures that decide their careers. For that reason, the transparent publication of statistics, sanctions and rules is a necessary part of the broader restoration of trust in international weightlifting.The IWF and ITA are now entering a period in which the effects of reforms will be measured not only by the annual number of positive findings, but also by the ability to sustain the programme throughout the entire Olympic cycle. By Los Angeles 2028, weightlifting will have to show that the reduction in the number of findings is not a temporary consequence of one season, but the result of a more stable system. According to the available information, the direction has been set towards greater coverage of athletes, stronger education, stricter conditions for national federations and the continuation of independent management of anti-doping affairs. In a sport burdened by a long legacy of doping scandals, it is precisely the consistency of those measures that will be crucial for assessing real progress.Sources:- International Weightlifting Federation – announcement on the statistics of the IWF/ITA anti-doping programme for 2025 (link)- International Weightlifting Federation – report on the anti-doping programme for 2024 and comparative data for 2023 (link)- International Testing Agency – announcement on the anti-doping programme for the 2025 IWF World Championships in Førde (link)- International Testing Agency – information on publicly announced sanctions in cases under IWF authority (link)- International Testing Agency – announcement on the extension of the IWF and ITA partnership for the period 2025 - 2028 (link)