(Reuters) -Ekaterina Guliyev is set to lose the 800 metres silver medal she won for Russia at the 2012 Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed her appeal against a four-year doping ban, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday.
As a result, Kenyan Pamela Jelimo and American Alysia Montano are set to be awarded the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Guliyev, who competed for Russia before switching allegiance to Turkey, was banned for four years in April 2024, reduced to two having already served another two-year ban in 2017.
She was banned for the use of prohibited substances in samples from 2012, with the AIU disqualifying her results from July 17, 2012 until October 20, 2014.
The 2012 Olympics were held from July 27-August 12. Competing as Ekaterina Poistogova, she finished third in the 2012 Olympic final.
But Guliyev was upgraded to silver when Russian winner Mariya Savinova was found guilty of doping offences, before she herself was also banned for doping.
“In reaching its judgement, CAS upheld the decision to disqualify the 34-year-old’s results from 17 July 2012 to 20 October 2014, confirming the loss of her reallocated Olympic silver medal,” the AIU said in a statement.
“World Athletics and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are now proceeding with the next steps.”
World Athletics’ competition department will now disqualify her results and then notify the IOC, who may then proceed with the reallocation of Olympic medals.
World Athletics’ charge for the anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) said three of her samples taken between July 17-31 in 2012 contained three prohibited substances — dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), androstenedione and boldenone.
DHEA enhances physical performance while androstenedione and boldenone are anabolic steroids.
“Our commitment to concluding these cases sends a resolute message that athletes who cheat will be held accountable,” AIU chair David Howman said.
Guliyev is one of hundreds of athletes who have been sanctioned following the ‘Operation LIMS’ investigation into Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory which uncovered widespread institutionalised doping.
The World Anti-Doping Agency had previously recommended that she be banned for life and have her London medal stripped in 2015 as the result of their investigations into state-sponsored systematic doping in Russian athletics.
She was eventually banned for two years by CAS in 2017 but her results were voided only back to October 2015, allowing her to keep her Olympic medal.
The women’s middle distance events at the London Olympics were heavily tainted by doping with two other runners in the 800m final since having had their results voided – Savinova and Russian Elena Arzhakova.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
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