Doping cases pile up as Rio Games enter final stretch

2016 Rio Olympics - Weightlifting - Men's 69kg Victory Ceremony - Riocentro - Pavilion 2 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 09/08/2016. Izzat Artykov (KGZ) of Kyrgyzstan poses with his medal. REUTERS/Yves Herman

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Bronze medallist weightlifter Izzat Artykov on Thursday became the first athlete to be stripped of a Rio Olympics medal, testing positive for drugs as doping moved into the spotlight with the Games entering the final stretch.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had executed the most extensive pre-Games drugs testing plan while also re-testing hundreds of samples from the previous two Olympics in London and Beijing in an effort to root out cheats.