Five Russian athletes have been suspended for doping abuse, the All-Russia Athletics Federation told the Tass news agency.
The best known, Maria Konovalova, 41, who twice won bronze in the Chicago marathon and is a two-times Russian champion, was disqualified until October 2017 and her results from August 2009 cancelled.
Mariya Bespalova, 29, who took part in the 2012 Olympics in London, was given a four-year ban until October 2019.
The runners Vlas Bredikhin and Yaroslav Kholopov were suspended from competitions for four years, while the race walker Yevgeny Nushtayev was given a six-month ban, the federation said.
They are the latest athletes to be hit by ongoing doping problems in Russia. In January, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency suspended Tatyana Chernova, the 2011 world heptathlon champion, for two years and Yuliya Zaripova, who won gold in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase at the London Olympics, for two and a half years over doping abuse.
In January the Olympic walking champions Valeriy Borchin, Sergey Kirdyapkin and Olga Kaniskina as well as Russia’s 2011 world champion Sergey Bakulin and 2011 world championship silver medallist Vladimir Kanaykin were suspended after they were found guilty of violating anti-doping regulations.
Their suspensions were based on irregularities in their biological passports.
The Russian president Vladimir Putin has underlined his deep disappointment with the rise of positive doping cases registered among Russian athletes and urged the fight against the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs.
