Turkish athlete gets 8-year ban, stripped of Olympic title

LAUSANNE: Asli Cakir Alptekin has agreed to be stripped of both her Olympic and European 1,500-metres titles and receive an eight-year ban for anomalies in her biological passport, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Monday.

The 29-year-old Turkish athlete struck the deal as she had risked a life ban having been suspended for doping for two years in 2004.

Abnormal blood samples between July 2010 and October 2012 had resulted in her being temporarily suspended in April 2013.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had appealed to CAS after the Turkish Athletics Federation (TAF) cleared Alptekin in December 2013.

"Before a hearing could be held, the parties negotiated and concluded their settlement agreement which is ratified in the Consent Arbitral Award. The proceedings before the CAS are now closed," the CAS statement read.

CAS said the athlete forfeited all her results from July 2010, including the 2012 Olympic gold and her 2012 European Championship title.

Alptekin previously served a two-year ban for a positive test at the 2004 world junior championships.

"Ms Cakir-Alptekin is found to have committed a second anti-doping rule violation, after a first one committed in 2004, and shall serve a period of ineligibility of eight years, to expire at midnight on 9 January 2021," CAS said.

Alptekin won Olympic gold in London ahead of her compatriot Gamze Bulut and Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain.

The agreement comes just days before the World Athletics Championships in Beijing get underway.