Athletics: Russian fails drugs test

Olympiada Ivanova, the Russian walker, yesterday became the second athlete to be stripped of a medal after being caught using drugs at the World Championships in Athens.

Team sources said Ivanova, who finished second in the 10km walk on Thursday, had tested positive for steroids, as had her compatriot Lyubov Tsyoma, who failed to finish her 800 metres semi-final on the same day.

The 27-year-old Ivanova will also lose her $30,000 (pounds 18,200) prize money. Olga Kardopoltseva, of Belarus, who finished third, will now be given the silver medal. Her compatriot Valentina Tsybulskaya will be elevated from fourth to third.

Under International Amateur Athletic Federation rules, Ivanova and Tsyoma will be banned for two years, the minimum penalty for a serious doping offence. Under the IAAF's old rules the two Russians would have been banned for four years, but the IAAF decided to halve its bans for serious drugs offences because of legal problems.

Ivanova, who produced the best performance of her career to win the silver medal, was the second medallist to test positive. Ukraine's world shot put champion Aleksandr Bagach was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for ephedrine. In all, the championships have produced five positive drugs tests.