The Lions have replaced Johnson with a multitude of optio

MOSCOW -- China is facing a one-year ban from weightlifting over repeated doping cases in a move which threatens to stop some of the worlds top athletes from competing internationally.The International Weightlifting Federation confirmed Thursday that three failed retests of drug test samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics will lead to Chinas automatic ban -- if the cases are proven and the athletes in question disqualified by the International Olympic Committee.IWF spokeswoman Lilla Rozgonyi told The Associated Press that the positive tests for gold medalists Cao Lei, Chen Xiexia and Liu Chunhong, all announced Wednesday, were enough for a ban under rules adopted by the IWF board in June.It happens automatically. The vote was already taken so now we only need to receive the closed cases from the IOC to proceed, Rozgonyi said in an e-mail.China is the worlds dominant country in weightlifting, having topped the medal table at every Olympics since 2000. It won seven medals in Rio de Janeiro this month, five of them gold.Along with China, IWF said that Ukraine and Azerbaijan have joined Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which were already facing one-year bans under earlier announcements.Wednesdays announcements took Ukraine to three failures from retesting, with four for Azerbaijan. At least six lifters from each of Belarus and Kazakhstan have failed Olympic retests, with seven for Russia.Between them, those countries won 14 medals in Rio, meaning that next years world championships in Malaysia could have a significantly depleted field if none of them are allowed to compete.Russia was already banned from Olympic weightlifting in Rio after the IWF ruled that its numerous doping cases and allegations of a state cover-up had brought weightlifting into disrepute.Weightlifting is fighting a severe doping crisis, with as many as 16 medals from 2008 and 13 from 2012 likely to be stripped following failed drug retests. 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Willy Lindstrom Jersey .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is playing without retired receiver Calvin Johnson and is still putting up some of the best numbers of his career.That leads to this question: Is Stafford a better quarterback now, without one of the best receivers in NFL history, than he was last season with Johnson?I think hes a growing and developing quarterback, so yes, I do think he was better than he was the last year, two years ago, three years ago, Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said Thursday.Hopefully were all getting better every year. I think he falls into that category too. But I think hes doing a really good job with what were asking him to do and so are the receivers, tight ends and backs.Stafford, through five games, is on pace for the best completion percentage (68.0), passer rating (99.6) and QBR (66.4) of his career. The Lions have replaced Johnson with a multitude of options, but the biggest addition was Marvin Jones, who is the NFLs leading receiver with 519 yards.Stafford is also seeing things differently this season, and part of that is due to Johnsons departure.Stafford said Wednesday that hes not seeing as many crazy kick-to-Calvin coverages, whhen defenses would sometimes come up with special packages just to try to contain Johnson.ddddddddddddStafford said he will see different wrinkles each Sunday, but more than ever he is seeing the defensive coverages he watches on film during the week. That was something he anticipated might happen after Johnson announced his retirement in March.But more than anything else, Stafford might appear to be a better quarterback because of what Cooter is asking of him.Hes really just trying to throw it to the open guy. Its as simple as that. It sounds overly simple, but its a really big deal, Cooter said. You know, when you have Calvin Johnson out there, one of the all-time great receivers, going to the Hall of Fame as soon as you can get him in there, it makes a lot of sense to try and throw that guy the ball. Sometimes you might override your read to do that.Sometimes its easier for a quarterback [when] you have your reads, you have your progressions, you have your thought processes and you just go around throwing it to who gets open. Hes doing a good job of doing that. ' ' '