• Spanish weightlifter Lydia Valentín has been presented with a silver medal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) almost ten years after the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Retests resulted in 75kg gold medal winner Lei Cao being stripped of her gold medal for doping in August last year. The retests also resulted in third place finisher Nadezhda Evstyukhina being stripped of her bronze medal, as well as the disqualification of fourth place finisher Iryna Kulesha and Hripsime Khurshudyan.

• Russia’s hosting of the Trampoline World Championships in St. Petersburg this year and the men’s International Boxing Association (AIBA) World Championships in Sochi during 2019 is a sign that international federations still trust Russia to manage international events, said Russia’s Minister for Sport, Pavel Kolobkov. “I note that the majority of the international federations, in spite of everything, continue to trust us with the right to host their best events”, he said in a statement.

• Bulgarian volleyball player Ivaylo Velikov has blamed supplements for an adverse analytical finding (AAF) that has resulted in his Belgian team ending his contract, reports Sportal.bg. It is understood that Velikov has vowed to appeal and has denied deliberately taking any prohibited substances. Belgian club VBC Waremme has terminated his contract, reports Lavenir.net.

• Three players have been suspended for violating anti-doping policies, Minor League Baseball (MiLB) announced on 19 January. Pirates’ Montana DuRapau and Braves’ Gabriel Noguera will receive 50 game suspensions for a second positive test for a ‘drug of abuse’, while Orioles Tucker Baca received a 60 game ban after testing positive for dehydrochloromethyltestosterone.

• The American Arbitration Association (AAA) has upheld an eight year ban on 63 year old triathlete Kevin Moats for his second doping offence, reports Trizone. It is understood that Moats tested positive for exogenous testosterone during pre-competition testing for the 2017 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, and did not hold a valid Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) certificate.