2012 Olympic champion stripped of women's 1,500-meter title for doping
Olympic champion Asli Cakir Alptekin of Turkey has agreed to surrender her 1,500-meter Olympic gold medal and serve an eight-year ban for blood doping, the IAAF and CAS announced on Monday.
The eight-year ban was reached on a settlement by the International Association of Athletics Federation and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Turkish Athletics Federation cleared Alptekin of any doping charges in 2013. The IAAF found irregularities in her biological passport, which monitors doping over time, and appealed to the CAS.
This is Alptekin's second positive test after she served a two-year ban for anabolic steroids while competing as a junior athlete at the 2004 World Junior Championships. The eight-year ban is a maximum punishment for a second offense.
Alptekin has agreed to annul all her results dating back to July 29, 2010, which would include gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and 2012 European Championships.
• U.S. runners Goucher, Flanagan may retroactively receive silver medals
The Turkish runner entered 2012 with a personal best of 4:02.17 for 1,500-meters before lowering that mark to 3:56.62.
The new 2012 Olympic podium has Gamze Bulut of Turkey winning gold, Maryam Jamal of Bahrain taking silver and Tatyana Tomashova of Russia rounding out the podium with bronze.
Bulut is also under suspicion for doping. Tomashova has reportedly been withdrawn from the Russian national team that is competing at the IAAF World Championships starting this weekend, according to ARD TV. She previously served a two-year and nine month ban for doping from 2007 to 2011.
With various doping offenses and punishments being handed down, American Shannon Rowbury, who finished sixth in the Olympic final, has an outside chance of retroactively receiving a medal.
- Christopher Chavez
