Skip to content

London 2012 champion Asli Cakir Alptekin banned for doping

Asli Cakir-Alptekin comes home to win the 1,500 metres at London 2012
Image: Asli Cakir-Alptekin comes home to win the 1,500 metres at London 2012

Asli Cakir-Alptekin of Turkey has been stripped of her 1,500 metres title from London 2012 and will serve an eight-year ban for blood doping.

Alptekin has forfeited all her results from July 29 2010 onwards, including the 2012 Olympic gold and her 2012 European Championship title.

She won gold in London after lowering her personal best time by almost nine seconds throughout the season.

Alptekin was investigated based on abnormal blood values in her biological passport.

The International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) appealed after the Turkish Athletics Federation cleared Alptekin in December 2013, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed a settlement has now been reached.

The eight-year-ban is the maximum allowed by the IAAF for a second doping offence of that type, the CAS ruling said.

Alptekin previously served a two-year ban for a positive test for an anabolic steroid at the 2004 world junior championships, and she has not raced competitively since being provisionally suspended by the IAAF in January 2013.

Latest Athletics Stories

Her Olympic gold could now go to team-mate Gamze Bulut, while fourth-placed finisher Tatyana Tomashova is in line to claim a bronze medal. Tomashova previously served a two-year ban for her part in a Russian conspiracy to avoid doping detection.

Around Sky