FILE- In this Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013 file photo, Russia's Mikhail Ryzhov celebrates winning silver with the men's 50 kilometer race walk at the World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia. Five Russian race walkers have been suspended for four years after testing positive for EPO. The sanctions were announced Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The five, including 2013 world championship silver medalist Mikhail Ryzhov, all tested positive for blood-boosting EPO in June 2015 at Russia’s national training center in Saransk. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)
October 13, 2016 - 10:17 AM
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Five Russian race walkers have been suspended for four years after testing positive for EPO.
The sanctions were announced Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The five, including 2013 world championship silver medallist Mikhail Ryzhov, all tested positive for blood-boosting EPO in June 2015 at Russia's national training centre in Saransk.
Also suspended were former European championship medallist Ivan Noskov, Elmira Alembekova, Vera Sokolova and Ivan Noskov.
The sanctions were handled by CAS because the Russian track and field federation is currently suspended.
A World Anti-Doping Agency investigation last year found that athletes and coaches had tried to obstruct drug testers from collecting samples during the out-of-competition controls that caught the five. The Saransk centre was then under the control of coach Viktor Chegin, who was banned for life in March. More than 25 of his athletes have failed drug tests.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016