Leading gold medal contender, Chinzorig Baatarsukh, will not be boxing at the 2024 Summer Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport moved to disqualify his results from the 2022 Asian Games.
The decorated amateur boxer made history at the Asian Games, when he won gold in the men’s light welterweight division, becoming just the third (male) Mongolian boxing champion in the history of the event.
But the victory is now mired in controversy as it has emerged that the star has been under a provisional suspension since October 2023, after a urine sample he provided at the Games was flagged for a Metandienone metabolite.
The banned substance in question – Metandienone – is an anabolic androgenic steroid on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances, and one of the most frequently detected by anti-doping agencies around the world. It can be used to increase muscle mass and strength.
While Baatarsukh’s private proceedings with the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Anti-doping Division (CAS ADD) are still ongoing, the adjudicatory body confirmed to World in Sport that his victory at the Asian Games is no longer valid, as per a March 15 verdict.
“The CAS Anti-doping Division issued a partial award in which Chinzorig Baatarsukh was found to have committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation,” Katy Hogg, CAS ADD spokesperson, said.
“The results obtained by Chinzorig Baatarsukh on 4 October 2023 at the 2022 Asian Games were disqualified including forfeiture of medals, points and prizes.”
This ruling opened the door for the reallocation of a coveted quota place in the upcoming Olympic boxing tournament, as well as the reallocation of the medals from the 2022 Asian Games.
The International Olympic Committee’s Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (IOC Boxing Unit) confirmed to World in Sport that the former step has indeed been taken.
“We can confirm that the men’s 63kg quota place initially assigned to Chinzorig Baatarsukh at the 2023 Asian Games has been reallocated to Thailand’s Bunjong Sinsiri, in accordance with the Qualification System of the sport of Boxing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” IOC Boxing Unit spokesperson, Marco Dalla Dea, said.
Section F of the IOC Boxing Unit’s qualification rules for the 2024 Olympics states, “If an allocated quota place of an athlete is not confirmed or is declined by the respective NOC [National Olympic Committee], then the quota place will be reallocated to the athlete defeated by the respective athlete in the specific bout of the Qualification tournament that determined the quota place.”
Bunjong Sinsiri won bronze at the 2022 Asian Games, falling just short of the two Olympic quota places on offer to the gold and silver medalists, when he was eliminated by Baatarsukh in the semifinals.
The 32-year-old, who is currently ranked 16th in the world, could not be reached for comment.
It is still unclear at this stage if the Light Welterweight medals for the 2022 Asian Games will be reallocated in light of Chinzorig Baatarsukh’s disqualification.
According to the CAS ADD, “sanctions and any sporting consequences such as medal reallocation ordered in CAS ADD decisions are implemented and enforced by the relevant sporting authorities.”
The Chinese Anti-Doping Authority collected all requisite blood and urine samples from the 2022 Asian Games competitors, while the International Testing Agency (ITA) led the development of customized testing programs, the analysis of samples and the prosecution of all potential anti-doping rule violations.
WADA also collaborated with these agencies at the Games through Athlete Engagement and Independent Observer programs, where a panel of world-leading experts monitored and reported on the event’s anti-doping procedures.
Both WADA and the ITA highlighted that medal reallocation is at the discretion of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), which is the official regulator of the Games. However, the OCA has so far declined to comment on any plans for a resolution to the matter. The case is still ongoing, and reallocation may not begin until all legal proceedings have been concluded.
If the medals are to be reallocated, Baatarsukh’s opponent in the final, Lai Chu-en will likely bring a belated and historic gold medal home for Chinese Taipei. Bunjong Sinsiri would receive silver and Kazakhstan’s Yertugan Zeinullinov, who fell to Baatarsukh in the quarter-finals at Hangzhou, could also earn bronze.
Whilst precedent suggests most Asian Games medals are reallocated after doping violations, there have been notable exceptions.
At the Jakarta-Palembang Games 2018, a gold medal was not reallocated in the women’s 78kg Kurash event, nor was the silver medal in the Men’s ne-waza 78kg jiu jitsu event, following the doping disqualifications of the original medalists.
Similarly, at the Guangzhou Games 2010, no bronze medal was awarded for the Men’s 81kg Judo.
Hong Kong swimming champion, Geoffrey Cheah, is one athlete who was fortunate to be reallocated a bronze medal. The Rio Olympian was a member of Hong Kong’s 4 x 100m relay swimming team at the Incheon Asian Games 2014, which originally finished fourth, just behind a South Korean team led by Olympic gold medalist and world champion, Park Tae-hwan.
However, post-competition drug testing soon invalidated Park Tae-hwan’s results, with his sample returning a positive reading for the banned anabolic steroid, Nebido. In response, Park Tae-hwan was stripped of all five medals received at the 2014 Games, thereby facilitating Cheah and his team to retrospectively receive bronze.
“Winning a medal is what swimmers chase after and whilst it was disappointing to [initially] fall short of a medal, I still accepted that disappointment and the result,” Cheah said.
“To find out months after the games, when I had already moved on, that the team and I were beaten by two athletes — both Olympic gold medalists — who had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs was even more disappointing for me, especially given how they similarly, as in recent doping news revelations, occurred in secret.”
Cheah added that despite his appreciation of the reallocation process, he laments the insufficiency of the policy.
“The experience of standing on the podium and then celebrating with family and friends can unfortunately never be re-paid,” he said.
For Cheah, the reallocation of Asian Games medals to clean runners-up is vital to the integrity of the competition and he hopes that the OCA and other sporting bodies will find ways to go even further for clean athletes in the future.
“It is of course important for the integrity of all elite sport, including the Asian Games,” Cheah said.
“Athletes who missed out on prestigious medals because of doping cheats should not only be retrospectively rewarded but financially compensated too. This means both for whatever medal money is due for winning, but also somehow for the loss in future earnings.
“The system seems to be broken and overall, the latest news is unsurprising… Some countries have criminalized doping and this needs to be adopted globally given that sport is global too.”
Chinzorig Baatarsukh’s case is technically ongoing, with additional sanctions possible as per the remit of the International Boxing Association.
“Proceedings between the International Boxing Association and Chinzorig Baatarsukh with regard to the consequences of the ADRV which may be imposed on the athlete outside of the 2022 OCA Asian Games are ongoing,” said Ms Hogg.
The Olympic boxing draw is almost complete, with 51 boxers (28 for men and 23 for women) clinching quota places at the final World Olympic Qualification tournament in Bangkok on 2 June.
