Svetlana Podobedova
# Svetlana Podobedova

Svetlana Podobedova (Russian: Светлана Подобедова; born May 25, 1986, Zima, Irkutsk) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani weightlifter.

## Career

Podobedova was awarded the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's 75 kg category with a total of 291 kg. Her 161 kg Clean and jerk was an Olympic record and her 291 kg total tied the Olympic record set only minutes before by Natalia Zabolotnaya. She was awarded the medal by virtue of lighter bodyweight.

In June 2016, following the Russian doping scandal, it was announced by the IWF that retests of the samples taken from the 2012 Olympics indicated that Podobedova had tested positive for prohibited substances, namely Stanazolol. If confirmed, she faced losing her Olympic medal, and all results and medals earned from the date of the sample in 2012 to 2016. In October 2016, she was stripped of her Olympic medal. Zabolotnaya and the bronze medalist, Iryna Kulesha, were disqualified and stripped of their medals as well.

