Canada’s Armstrong close to shot put bronze from 2008 Games after athlete ban

Canada’s Dylan Armstrong is one step closer to getting an Olympic bronze medal in shot put following Belarusian Andrei Mikhnevich’s lifetime ban for a doping violation.

Mikhnevich was suspended after renewed tests from the 2005 world championships in Helsinki, the Belarusian Athletics Federation confirmed today. The ruling disqualifies him from his Olympic bronze from the 2008 Beijing Games.

Armstrong, a Kamloops, B.C., native, missed the bronze in Beijing by a centimetre.

If, as expected, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) awards Armstrong the bronze from the Beijing, it will be Canada’s first-ever Olympic medal in shot put.

Armstrong is also in position for a 2010 world indoor championship bronze. Mikhnevich took silver at that event, while Armstrong finished fourth.

Athletics Canada chairman Gordon Orlikow said the Mikhnevich’s ban was expected.

The Dutch Athletics Union also announced the ban because one of its athletes was affected.