Russia stripped of 2008 4x400m relay silver over doping

Russia's 4x400m relay runners have been stripped of the silver medals they won in the 2008 Beijing Olympics after team member Anastasia Kapachinskaya failed a doping test, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced.

Re-analysis of samples from 2008 using new techniques discovered the banned substances stanozolol and turinabol, the IOC said on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Kapachinskaya's 2008 Olympics results -- silver in the 4x400m relay and fifth in the 400m -- were both annulled. Jamaica took bronze in the 2008 relay with Belarus fourth.

"The Russian Federation team is disqualified from the women's 4x400m relay," the IOC said in a statement.

"The corresponding medals and diplomas are withdrawn and shall be returned."

Russian decathlete Alexander Pogorelov tested positive for turinabol in a re-analysis and was disqualified from the 2008 decathlon, in which he finished fourth, the IOC said.

Russian shot putter Ivan Yushkov, whose 2008 samples tested positive for three substances, also had his 10th-placed finish in Beijing annulled.

--IANS

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