London Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov among Russian athletes guilty of doping

Ivan Ukhov.
Ivan Ukhov. Photo credit: Reuters

London 2012 Olympic high jump champion Ivan Ukhov is among 12 Russian track and field athletes banned for doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Ukhov and Svetlana Shkolina, who won high jump bronze in 2012 and gold at the 2013 world championships, were given four-year bans on Friday, starting from February 1 2019 (local time), and retrospectively disqualified, meaning they will be stripped of their medals.

American Erik Kynard is expected to be promoted to gold in the 2012 Olympic men's event while compatriot Brigetta Barrett, who took silver in London, is in line to be promoted to world champion after finishing second in Moscow.

Double world champion and former world record holder hammer thrower Tatyana Lysenko, who had previously been stripped of her 2012 Olympic gold, was given an eight-year ban for a second offence, as was fellow hammer thrower Gulfiya Agafonova.

CAS was acting for the International Association of Athletics Federations( IAAF) in the absence of the banned Russian Athletics Federation (RUSAF).

The court says the 12 cases arose from Richard McLaren's investigation into allegations of "systemic doping practices in Russian sport."

CAS ruled the athletes "participated in and/or benefited from anabolic steroid doping" before the London Olympics and the 2013 worlds in Moscow.

"Today's CAS rulings confirm that the evidence underlying the McLaren Reports is reliable and is capable of establishing Anti-Doping Rule Violations [ADRVs]," Athletics Integrity Unit head Brett Clothier said.

"It needs to be noted that some of these cases were fought solely on the basis of the McLaren evidence, while others were combined with analytical evidence gathered through re-testing. It is very encouraging for us and gives us the possibility to pursue more cases in the future."

The 12 athletes have 21 days to appeal against the decision.

More than 120 failed doping tests have now been recorded from the London Games. The previous highest number of failed tests was 86 from Beijing 2008.

The banned athletes are:

  • Tatyana Firova (400m) - four-year ban from June 9, 2016
  • Svetlana Shkolina (high jump) - four-year ban from February 1, 2019
  • Ivan Ukhov (high jump) - four-year ban from February 1, 2019
  • Lyukman Adams (triple jump) - four-year ban from January 31, 2019
  • Anna Bulgakova (hammer throw) - four-year ban from March 27, 2017
  • Gulfiya Agafonova-Khanafeeva (hammer throw) - eight-year ban from January 6, 2017
  • Tatyana Lysenko Beloborodva (hammer throw) - eight-year ban from July 2, 2016
  • Ivan Yushkov (shot put) - four-year ban from July 2, 2016
  • Mariya Bespalova (hammer throw) - already suspended since October 26, 2015
  • Vera Ganeeva (discus) - two-year ban from July 2, 2018
  • Yekaterina Galitskaia (100m hurdles) - four-year ban from February 1, 2019
  • Yuliya Kondakova (100m hurdles) - four-year ban from February 1, 2019

Reuters