Russia bans 4 athletes for doping

Russia’s Olympic Committee has banned four athletes for doping, as the country struggles to overturn a suspension on its track and field team that could see it miss the Rio Olympics.

The Olympic Committee said Irina Maracheva, an 800-metres medalist at the 2012 European championships, had been banned for two years, along with race walker Anna Lukyanova, for doping violations based on documents handed over by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Officials have also confirmed a four-year ban for the runners Yelena Nikulina and Maria Nikolayeva, the Olympic Committee said in a statement dated Sunday.

No more details of the reasons for the bans were given. Maracheva finished second in the 800m at the 2012 European Championships, while Lukyanova was a silver medallist at the 2010 World junior championships.

Russian athletics is currently mired in scandal following a bombshell report by a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission alleging state-sponsored doping and mass corruption in the sport.

The IAAF provisionally suspended the Russian athletics federation in November, meaning that the track and field team cannot compete in international competitions.

The IAAF said Russia could only be reinstated if it fulfilled strict criteria, including compliance with all Wada and IAAF anti-doping rules and requirements.

An IAAF inspection team is due Monday to meet Russia’s new athletics chief Dmitry Shlyakhtin in Moscow.