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Six Russian Athletes Stripped Of Medals, Including 2012 Olympic Gold


The decision means Sergei Kirdyapkin is set to lose his 2012 Olympic gold medal in the 50-kilometer walk.
The decision means Sergei Kirdyapkin is set to lose his 2012 Olympic gold medal in the 50-kilometer walk.

Six Russian athletes are to be stripped of the medals they won at World and European championships in 2010 and 2011 and the 2012 London Olympics following a ruling by Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The CAS in Lausanne said on March 24 it had upheld an appeal by the International Association of Athletics Federations over the "selective" punishments handed out against the six track-and-field athletes found guilty of doping.

The court said Russia's anti-doping agency had wrongly imposed bans that were timed in a way that meant the athletes' results were not annulled and allowed them to keep major titles.

It said all six athletes had competitive results disqualified for longer periods.

The decision means Sergei Kirdyapkin is set to lose his 2012 Olympic gold medal in the 50-kilometer walk. The five other athletes are Sergei Balukin, Valery Borchin, Vladimir Kanaikin, Olga Kaniskina, and Yulia Zaripova.

Russia was suspended from international track and field in the wake of a report last year exposing widespread cheating and corruption.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, TASS, and Interfax

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