ATHLETICS DOPING:THE INTERNATIONAL Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has banned seven leading Russian women athletes after charging them with manipulating drug samples, a senior official said yesterday.
"They are definitely suspended and will miss the Beijing Olympics," Russian Athletics Federation (RAF) president Valentin Balakhnichyov said.
The seven are the twice world 1,500-metre champion Tatyana Tomashova; the world indoor 1,500-metre champion Yelena Soboleva; distance runners Yuliya Fomenko and Svetlana Cherkasova; European discus champion Darya Pishchalnikova; former hammer world-record holder Gulfia Khanafeyeva; and former world 5,000-metre champion Olga Yegorova.
"The athletes have been charged under IAAF Rules 32.2 (b) and 32.2 (e) for a fraudulent substitution of urine which is both a prohibited method and also a form of tampering with the doping control process," the world governing body of athletics said on its website (www.iaaf.org).
"We were notified by the IAAF their drug samples taken in out-of-competition tests in May 2007 and then at last year's world championships in Osaka do not match," said Balakhnichyov. "Unfortunately we don't have much choice but to suspend them."
All bar Cherkasova had already qualified for the Olympics, which begin this day week, and were leading contenders for medals.
Soboleva, 25, has been on fire this season, posting the world's best times over 1,500m and 800m.
She smashed her own indoor 1,500m world record to win gold at the world indoor championships in Valencia in March, with Fomenko finishing second.
Tomashova, 33, has dominated the 1,500m in recent years, winning back-to-back world titles in Paris in 2003 and Helsinki in 2005. She also finished second at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Yegorova, 36, tested positive for the banned blood-boosting substance EPO prior to the 2001 world championships in Edmonton but was allowed to compete after her suspension was lifted because of an incomplete testing procedure.
She went on to win the 5,000m there and also finished second behind Tomashova in the 1,500m at the 2005 world championships in Helsinki.
After winning the European discus title in Gothenburg in 2006, the 23-year-old Pishchalnikova took silver with a personal best of 65.78 metres at last year's world championships behind Germany's Franka Dietzsch.
Khanafeyeva, 26, briefly held the hammer world record with a throw of 77.26 metres in 2006.
She was suspected of failing a drugs test at the 2007 World Military Games in Hyderabad, India, before being cleared by the organisers.
Balakhnichyov said the suspensions had dealt a major blow to the Russian team.
"It's a huge, devastating blow just a week before the Olympics. I don't know how we will recover from it," he said.
