Six banned Russian women to miss out

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has banned six leading Russian women after being suspected of manipulating drug samples, a senior official said on Thursday.

"All six are definitely suspended and will miss the Beijing Olympics," Russian Athletics Federation (RAF) president Valentin Balakhnichyov told Reuters.

The six are: twice world 1,500 meters champion Tatyana Tomashova, world indoor 1,500 meters champion Yelena Soboleva, distance runners Yuliya Fomenko and Svetlana Cherkasova, European discus champion Darya Pishchalnikova and former hammer world record holder Gulfia Khanafeyeva.

"We were notified by the IAAF their drug samples taken in out-of-competition tests in May 2007 and then at last year's world championships in Osaka do not match," said Balakhnichyov.

"Unfortunately we don't have much choice but to suspend all six."

All bar Cherkasova had already qualified for the Olympics, which begin on August 8, and were leading contenders for medals.

Soboleva, 25, has been on fire this season, posting the world's best times in the 1,500 and 800.

WORLD RECORD

She smashed her own indoor 1,500m world record to win gold at the world indoor championships in Valencia in March, with Fomenko finishing second.

Tomashova, 33, has dominated the 1,500 in recent years, winning back-to-back world titles in Paris in 2003 and Helsinki two years later. She also finished second at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

After winning the European discus title in Gothenburg in 2006, the 23-year-old Pishchalnikova took silver with a personal best of 65.78 meters at last year's world championships behind Germany's Franka Dietzsch.

Khanafeyeva, 26, briefly held the hammer world record with a throw of 77.26 meters in 2006. She was suspected of failing a drugs test at the 2007 World Military Games in Hyderabad, India before being cleared by the organizers.

Balakhnichyov said the suspensions had dealt a major blow to the Russian team.

"It's a huge, devastating blow just a week before the Olympics. I don't know how we will recover from it," he said.

(Reporting by Gennady Fyodorov; editing by Tony Jimenez)