MOSCOW (AP) – Two Russian Olympic medal hopefuls, including reigning women’s race-walking champion Elena Lashmanova, could miss next year’s Olympics as the IAAF investigates whether they competed while banned for doping.
The new probe comes at a time when the IAAF and World Anti-Doping Agency are already investigating allegations made in a German TV documentary of systematic doping and cover-ups in Russia.
The latest allegations cast another shadow over Russia’s state-backed race-walking program, which has dominated at the Olympics and world championships for years but has also seen at least 17 athletes banned for doping in recent years.
Lashmanova, who won gold in the 20-kilometer race walk at the 2012 London Olympics, was suspended for two years in July after testing positive for a banned substance in January 2014. Her ban expires in time for next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
However, she is now under investigation because of photographs posted online which appear to show her competing at a Dec. 30 meet in Russia, along with 2012 world junior champion Ekaterina Medvedeva, who is also serving a ban.