Olympic and world champion Olga Kaniskina was in a class of her own when she raced to a 20km walk gold medal at the world athletics championships Sunday.
A gritty Russian racewalker won the solitary gold up for grabs on Wednesday as a world championships characterised so far by drama and disqualifications reached its midway point.
Walkers, long-distance swimmers and decathletes braved relentless rain in the Chinese capital on Thursday as the 13th day of the Olympics got under way.
'Following AIU charges based on LIMS data, Russian athlete Natalia Antyukh has been banned for the use of a Prohibited Substance/Method. DQ results from 15 July 2012 until 29 June 2013.'
Russian heptathlete Tatyana Chernova was the highest profile name missing on Tuesday from the team announced by the host nation for the world championships, along with world champion race walkers Valeriy Borchin and Sergey Bakulin.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will make a final ruling this week on "selective" doping bans handed out to six Russian athletes, including four Olympic champions.
Russia's 2011 world champion Sergei Bakulin and silver medallist Vladimir Kanaykin have also been banned for failing doping tests, RUSADA added on its website (www.rusada.ru).
Russian steeplechaser Yulia Zaripova has been banned for two and a half years for doping offences, the Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA said (www.rusada.ru) on Friday.
The IAAF ruling body of athletics is proactive in tackling doping and not protective of drug cheats, according to president Sebastian Coe.