Seven athletes banned in doping row

MOSCOW (AFP) - Seven top Russian woman athletes have been temporarily suspended for the suspected switching of urine samples in drug tests last year, athletics's world governing body IAAF said on Thursday.

The controls showed discrepancies in their DNA samples, the IAAF said, which indicated the samples given were not from the athletes in question.

Yelena Soboleva, who has clocked the fastest times in the world this year over both 800m and 1500m, was targeted as well as fellow middle distance runners Svetlana Cherkasova, Yulia Fomenko, former double world champion Tatyana Tomashova and Olga Yegorova.

Hammer thrower Gulfiya Khanafeyeva, a former world record holder, and reigning European discus champion Darya Pishchalnikova, were also named in the affair.

Athletics' world governing body IAAF said on their website: "The IAAF has provisionally suspended seven athletes from Russia for doping offences, a decision which has been acknowledged by the All Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF)."