(Reuters) – Ekaterina Poistogova-Guliyev is facing the loss of her silver medal from the 800 metres at the London Olympics after receiving a four-year ban for historic doping from the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF).
The 33-year-old, who initially competed for Russia before later switching allegiance to Turkey, had all her results from July 2012 to October 2014 nullified due to being found guilty of using or attempting to use banned substances, as stated by RusAF.
The punishment was specifically for infractions in 2012 and 2013, based on information from the Moscow anti-doping laboratory.
When competing as Ekaterina Poistogova, she initially finished third in the 2012 Olympic final on August 12, before moving up to second place when Russian winner Mariya Savinova was found guilty of doping violations.
Following investigations into state-sponsored systematic doping in Russian athletics by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 2015, it was recommended that Poistogova-Guliyev be given a lifetime ban and have her London medal revoked.
However, in 2017, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ultimately handed her a two-year ban, with her results being voided only back to October 2015, allowing her to retain her Olympic medal.
The final decision regarding the stripping and redistribution of medals lies with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who were not immediately available for comment.
If Poistogova-Guliyev is indeed stripped of her medal, Kenyan Pamela Jelimo would receive the silver while American Alysia Montano would take the bronze.
Notably, the women’s middle distance events at the London Olympics were marred by doping controversies, with three runners from the 800m final having their results voided since then – Savinova, Poistogova-Guliyev, and sixth-placed Russian Elena Arzhakova.
Furthermore, out of the 13 runners in the 1,500m final, five have also subsequently been banned for doping offenses.
Poistogova-Guliyev’s ban extends only until 2026, as allowance was made for the two-year ban she previously served after the CAS decision, according to RusAF.
Additionally, RusAF has similarly banned 3,000m steeplechaser Nikolay Chavkin for two years and six months due to historic offenses of a similar nature.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
