Maxim Agapitov has been elected President of the Russian Weightlifting Federation ©Facebook

Maxim Agapitov has been elected as the permanent President of the Russian Weightlifting Federation (RWF) following the resignation of Sergey Syrtsov.

A message on the organisation's website has confirmed that Agapitov, a weightlifting world champion in 1997, will take over the role permanently after serving as interim head since September.

The official had been standing in a two-horse race against Russian Curling Federation first vice-president Mikhail Stepanyants.

He reportedly received 43 votes from the 68 delegates present during a meeting in Vladimir.

Resolving doping problems in the sport after the nation was banned from August's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be his primary aim.

This was the reason for the resignation of Syrtsov after six years in the role in September.

Syrtsov told the TASS news agency that "someone had to be held responsible for what had happened" and that he had informed the national governing body of his decision by letter.

Maxim Agapitov (bottom, left) will seek to reform the Russian Weightlifting Federation following a tumultuous period ©Facebook
Maxim Agapitov (bottom, left) will seek to reform the Russian Weightlifting Federation following a tumultuous period ©Facebook

The former RWF President was controversially elected as chairman of the European Weightlifting Federation's Anti-Doping Commission earlier this year in spite of the allegations levelled against the sport in Russia and the nation as a whole.

Russian weightlifters were prohibited from competing at the Olympics in the Brazilian city following publication of the McLaren Report, as well as the advice of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and re-analysis of Beijing 2008 and London 2012 samples.

In a statement released in July, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) said that the "integrity of the weightlifting sport has been seriously damaged on multiple times and levels by the Russians, therefore an appropriate sanction was applied in order to preserve the status of the sport".

They also highlighted the "extremely shocking and disappointing statistics" regarding Russian weightlifters.

London 2012 men's under 94 kilograms silver medallist Alexsandr Ivanov and women's under 75kg silver medal winner Nataliya Zabolotnaya have become the latest Russian lifters to be disqualified this week.

It is expected that the country may be handed a one-year suspension from all international competition when all the cases are confirmed.