IAAF suspends five Russian race walkers for attending training camp with banned coach Viktor Chegin

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 on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_4456383” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Reuters[/caption] 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. “The Doping Review Board will review their status for future competitions in 2018, once it has received further information from RUSADA (Russian Anti-Doping Agency) and the outcome of further investigations is known,” the IAAF added. Two Russian athletes competing as neutrals, Vasiliy Mizinov and Yana Smerdova, were not present at the training camp in Karakol and will be eligible for this weekend’s championships.