Taymazov also lost his Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medal from the same event after he was caught doping in the IOC's retests.

He is only the second athlete to have failed a drugs test retrospectively from Beijing 2008 and London 2012, following Kazakh weighlifter Ilya Ilyin.

In its decision, the IOC confirmed a sample provided by the Uzbek wrestler at the 2012 Games in London contained the banned steroid oral turinabol.

The 40-year-old becomes the 68th athlete to have either failed a drugs test at London 2012 or been caught retrospectively in retests.

The actual number of positive cases affecting results at those Games is around 130.

Taymazov, elected a member of the Russian State Duma in 2016, won the 120kg freestyle gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens before he defended the title at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

He was stripped of the Beijing 2008 gold in April 2017 and will now relinquish the London 2012 crown following the confirmation of his failed test.

A spokesperson for United World Wrestling told insidethegames that Taymazov has requested an appeal.

Taymazov's disqualification means both finalists in the 120kg freestyle event at London 2012 have been found guilty of doping in the IOC's retests.

Georgia's Davit Modzmanashvili, who lost the gold medal bout to the Uzbek, was also caught doping and was stripped of his silver medal as a result.

The announcement from the IOC forces United World Wrestling to reshuffle the results of the 120kg event at London 2012 for a second time.

Iran's Komeil Ghasemi is in line to receive the gold medal, with Russian Bilyal Makhov, awarded the medal stripped from Modzmanashvili, will remain in second place.

Daulet Shabanay of Kazakhstan and Tervel Dlagnev of the United States will be confirmed as bronze medallists pending the outcome of Taymazov's appeal.