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Jessica Ennis-Hill gold confirmed as Tatyana Chernova appeal fails

Tatyana Chernova beate Jessica Ennis-Hill to 2011 gold but has since been stripped of the title
Image: Tatyana Chernova beat Jessica Ennis-Hill to 2011 gold but has since been stripped of the title

Jessica Ennis-Hill will get a third world heptathlon gold medal after stripped 2011 champion Tatyana Chernova failed with an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

A CAS verdict last November annulled the Russian's results between August 15, 2011 and July 22, 2013, a period covering the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, effectively handing the title to Ennis-Hill.

Chernova's appeal argued CAS was in no position to make a "first-instance decision" in place of the Russian athletics federation, which was suspended at the time in the wake of the Russian doping scandal.

But her case was rejected by sport's highest court, whose statement read: "The appeal has been dismissed and the first instance decision issued by the CAS on 29 November 2016, in which it substituted for the suspended All-Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF), is confirmed.

"Accordingly, Ms Chernova remains sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of three years and eight months, beginning on February 5, 2016 and all results achieved by Tatyana Chernova between August 15, 2011 and July 22, 2013 are annulled."

Chernova won the title ahead of second-placed Ennis-Hill in South Korea, but she was given a two-year doping ban in 2015 after retrospective testing of a 2009 sample.

That sanction was levied by the Russian anti-doping agency, who annulled her results for a two-year period ending just before the start of the 2011 Championships.

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World governing body the IAAF took the case to CAS, and following the November verdict Ennis-Hill said on Instagram: "So happy to be finally receiving my gold medal. Triple world champion. WOW!"

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