MOSCOW (AP) — Russian race walker Alexander Ivanov was stripped of his 2013 world championship title after being found guilty of doping, the country's track federation said Friday.
Ivanov was handed a three-year ban after blood data in his biological passport showed signs of doping. The ban was backdated to May 2, 2017, when Ivanov was first suspended pending a full hearing.
Russia dominated race walking at the Olympics and world championships for more than a decade before a wave of doping cases brought disqualification for more than 30 athletes and a life ban for head coach Viktor Chegin.
Ivanov was one of the last members of the team without a ban. His 2013 world championship gold will go to Chen Ding of China. Ivanov will also lose a 2014 European Championship silver medal.
Russia originally topped the medals table on home soil at the 2013 world championships, but has now been stripped of all but three of its seven gold medals. Besides Ivanov, hammer thrower Tatyana Lysenko, high jumper Svetlana Shkolina and the women's 4x400-meter relay team have been disqualified for various doping offenses.
Of the three gold medals remaining, one was won by walker Elena Lashmanova, who was banned after failing a doping test less than a year after the championships.
