Russia’s Savinova-Farnosova stripped of London Olympic Games 800m gold for doping

Russia’s Mariya Savinova-Farnosova has been stripped of her 800m London 2012 Olympic Games gold medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday imposed a four-year ban, saying there was “clear evidence” she used performance-enhancing drugs.

She is the latest in a growing list of Russian athletes to have past Olympic medals taken away over doping as the nation struggles to overcome its most widespread doping scandal.

The retroactive four-year penalty starts from August 24, 2015, but CAS also disqualified all Savinova’s results from July 26, 2010, to August 19, 2013, thereby stripping her of her 2011 world championships gold, 2013 world silver and 2010 European gold.

The athlete has 45 days to consider whether to appeal the CAS decision.

The case against her was initiated by the world athletics federation IAAF, which has also maintained a ban on Russian track and field athletes over the country’s doping affair.

South Africa’s double silver medallist Caster Semenya is now in line to be promoted to gold in both the 2012 Olympics and 2011 world championships.