Athletics: Three Russian runners banned, states Report

MOSCOW: The Russian Athletics Federation has handed down two-year bans to three runners – Svetlana Klyuka, Yevgenia Zinuriva and Nailya Yulamanova – according to reports. It was stated that the sanctions had been decided following the discovery of ‘abnormal indexes in their biometric passports’. Klyuka, the 2006 European Championship 800m runner-up, was banned from February 10, 2012 along with the 2010 European Championships’ marathon winner Yulamanova. Zinurova, who won the 800m gold at the 2011 European indoor championships, was handed a two-year ban backdated to September 13, 2011. The bans mean that the three runners cannot compete in the national championships taking place this week, ruling them out of contention for the Olympics.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2012.