22 Nov 2016

Another Olympic champion stripped of medal

7:09 am on 22 November 2016

Russia's Yuliya Zaripova has been stripped of the gold medal she won in the women's 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 2012 London Olympics.

London 2012 3,000m steeplechase winner Yuliya Zaripova has been stripped of her gold medal.

London 2012 3,000m steeplechase winner Yuliya Zaripova has been stripped of her gold medal. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Zaripova, who tested positive for turinabol, was among 12 athletes, including seven medallists, who were disqualified from their events following re-testing of samples.

Zaripova had been widely expected to lose the medal after she was banned for two-and-a-half years by the Russian anti-doping agency in January 2015 after her biological passport showed abnormalities.

The other athletes to lose their medals were all weightlifters.

They included Moldova's Cristina Iovu, bronze medallist in the women's 53 kilos; Russian Nataliya Zabolotyana and Belarussian Iryna Kulesha, silver and bronze respectively in the women's 75 kilos; and Armenia's Hripsime Khurshudyan, bronze medallist in the women's 75+ kilos.

The others were Russian Aleksandr Ivanov and Anatoli Ciricu, silver and bronze respectively in the men's 94 kilos.

The IOC, which stores samples for a decade to test with newer methods or to analyse performance-enhancing substances that have yet to be identified, says a total of 98 samples have come back as positive in re-testing from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

It has been naming the guilty athletes and stripping them of their medals where appropriate, in batches.