Ekaterina Guliyev is set to lose the 800 metres silver medal she won for Russia at the 2012 Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed her appeal against a four-year doping ban.
'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.'
India's Tintu Luka qualified for the women's 800m semifinals in the Olympic Games after finishing third in one of the heats on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old world champion crossed the line in the Ras al-Khaimah half marathon three seconds quicker than the mark set by fellow Kenyan Florence Kiplagat in Barcelona two years ago, although the new record remains subject to ratification.
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.
Russia could be banned from international athletics, including the 2016 Olympic Games, after an anti-doping commission report on Monday alleged widespread corruption and collusion that added up to a state-sponsored drugs culture in a sporting superpower.
Caster Semenya of South Africa took the gold medal in the Olympic 800 meters on Saturday in a personal best time of 1:55.28 seconds.
Caster Semenya is not excited about the prospect of having her 2012 Olympic and 2011 world championships silver medals upgraded to gold in the wake of Mariya Savinova-Farnosova doping ban, the coach of the South African 800 metres athlete said on Sunday.
A distraught Alysia Montano called her career 'a farce' and branded the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) "a corrupt institution" after crashing out of the US Olympic trials on Monday.
Hot favourite Caster Semenya qualified for the women's 800metres semi-finals at the Rio Olympics with supreme ease on Wednesday and will no doubt be braced for another wave of discussions about her gender should she go on to take the gold medal on Saturday.
Olympic champions the United States reclaimed their women's 4x400m relay world title as Jamaica suffered more injury heartbreak in the World Championships final on Sunday.*