4 Dec 2012

WADA waits for advice on disgraced shot putter

12:03 am on 4 December 2012

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says it has not yet received advice on whether disgraced shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk will compete in the world championships in August next year.

The Belarussian athlete was stripped of her gold medal at the London Olympics after failing a drug test and New Zealander Valerie Adams was given the medalinstead.

Ostapchuk was banned for a year by the sporting authorities in her own country, Belarus.

She is now well into that ban and could be back on the field to compete against Valerie Adams again.

New Zealand's Sport and Recreation Minister Murray McCully says the matter needs to be dealt with promptly, and letting it drag on could bring anti doping systems into disrepute.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is deciding whether to confirm or extend Ostapchuk's ban.

WADA says the federation is still getting its file together and has presented no information to it. The federation could not immediately be reached for comment.

The IAAF World Championships take place in Moscow from 10 - 18 August 2013.