LONDON: 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. Three years of Ukhov’s results, including the 2012 Olympics, have been disqualified, meaning Britain’s Robert Grabarz could be upgraded to silver.
Cas acted on evidence from the McLaren report, which found Russia operated a state-sponsored doping programme.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.
Cas says the athletes “participated in and/or benefited from anabolic steroid doping programs and benefited from specific protective methods” from London 2012 to the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. Ukhov has been banned for four years, as has 2013 high jump world champion Svetlana Shkolina, while Tatyana Lysenko, who won world gold in the hammer throw, is banned for eight years.
Grabarz was one of three athletes to finish third at London 2012, a Games that has since been dubbed the dirtiest ever Olympics because of the number of failed drugs tests. A report from Professor Richard McLaren in July 2016 found Russia operated a state-sponsored doping programme for four years across the “vast majority” of Olympic sports.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) banned Russia from competing in November 2015 and last month upheld the country’s suspension into 2019. Cas opened procedures against the athletes “on behalf” of the IAAF, with the Russian Athletics Federation currently suspended and “unable to manage any disciplinary procedures”.
The banned athletes are:
- Tatyana Firova (400m) – four-year ban from 9 June 2016
- Svetlana Shkolina (high jump) – four-year ban from 1 February 2019
- Ivan Ukhov (high jump) – four-year ban from 1 February 2019
- Lyukman Adams (triple jump) – four-year ban from 31 January 2019
- Anna Bulgakova (hammer throw) – four-year ban from 29 March 2017
- Gulfiya Agafonova-Khanafeeva (hammer throw) – eight-year ban from 6 January 2017
- Tatyana Lysenko Beloborodva (hammer throw) – eight-year ban from 2 July 2016
- Ivan Yushkov (shot put) – four-year ban from 2 July 2016
- Mariya Bespalova (hammer throw) – already suspended since 26 October 2015
- Vera Ganeeva (discus) – two-year ban from 2 July 2018
- Yekaterina Galitskaia (100m hurdles) – four-year ban from 1 February 2019
- Yuliya Kondakova (100m hurdles) – four-year ban from 1 February 2019