Turkish ex-Olympic champion Cakir banned for life

Turkey's athletics federation has banned the disgraced former 2012 Olympic 1500m champion Asli Cakir Alptekin for life over a third doping offence, the state-run Anadolu news agency said Friday.

Cakir Alptekin was in 2015 stripped of both her Olympic and European 1500m titles and received an eight-year ban for anomalies in her biological passport.

However this was later reduced to four years and she was eligible to compete again from this year as the start date of the ban was backdated to 2013.

She took part in the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country event in Portugal in February, finishing in 11th place and helping her Istanbul team Uskudar Belediyespor win the title.

Cakir Alptekin previously served a two-year ban for a positive test at the 2004 world junior championships.

Anadolu said the latest violation was her third doping offence but did not give details of its nature.

"We are never, ever going to allow doping. And everyone must know that," Turkey athletics federation chief Fatih Cintimar told the news agency.

Turkey's athletics performances have long been shadowed by doping.

Ethiopian-born Turkish long distance runner Elvan Abeylegesse was banned in 2016 for two years for doping, while sprint hurdler Nevin Yanit was banned for three years in 2013.

Source: AFP