Russia has confirmed female weightlifter Lorraina Fischev, 34, will represent the country at the Olympics this year.

Fischev, pictured above, has spent many years training in the gym and she is expected to lift more than twice the previous Olympic record.

Russian Olympic team head Dmitri Popov said Fischev was head and shoulders above all other Russian female weightlifters.

“We hear New Zealand has got a strong line-up this year.

“Well, let me tell you, they have a shock coming to them.

“Lorraina can lift more than most other men, let alone women.”

Extra attention has been thrown on to this year’s women’s Olympic weightlifting category, and Russia’s selection may well raise more eyebrows.

UK Olympic ambassador Steve Walshe said: “There’s something not quite right about this.”

Fischev is one of 23 Russians allowed to compete at the Olympics as “neutral athletes” owing to previous doping scandals.

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