IAAF suspends five Russian walkers over coach link

DOHA: Five Russian athletes have been ruled out of competing at this weekend’s World Race Walking Team Championships in China after attending a training camp with banned coach Viktor Chegin, the IAAF announced Friday.

The IAAF said its Doping Review Board had decided to revoke the Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA) status granted to Klavdiya Afanasyeva, Olga Eliseeva, Yuliya Lipanova, Sergey Sharypov and Sergey Shirobokov. The decision was made “pending further investigation into a number of serious issues arising from their participation at the training camp in Karakol in the Kyrgyz Republic last month, including the involvement in Karakol of the coach, Viktor Chegin, who has been banned from the sport for life”, the IAAF said. It means the five athletes are not eligible for the World Race Walking Team Championships that will be held on Saturday and Sunday in Taicang, China.