Turkish gold medalist athletes subject to doping investigation, suspended from competitions

ISTANBUL

Aslı Çakır Alptekin won the women's 1500m competion in 2012 Olympic Games. Another Turkish athlete, Gamze Bulut, took the silver medal.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has launched a doping investigation into Olympic 1500m champion Aslı Çakır Alptekin and European 100m hurdles champion Nevin Yanıt. Both athletes have been provisionally suspended from all international competitions and face being stripped of their gold medals. 

“The IAAF is now in a position to confirm that both Aslı Cakır Alptekin and Nevin Yanıt have been charged with anti-doping rule violations by the IAAF," Nick Davies, the IAAF's deputy general secretary, told sports portal insidethegames.biz. The tests carried out on the Turkish athletes showed sufficient grounds for suspecting the use of a banned substance, Davies added. 

“Ms Çakır [is charged] on the basis of abnormal blood values from her biological passport. Ms Yanit on the basis of multiple positive findings following target tests carried out in-competition and out-of-competition by the IAAF,” he said.

The cases have been referred to the Turkish Athletic Federation which will now decide whether or not to suspend the athletes from domestic competitions. 

Çakır Alptekin had already received a two-year suspension between 2004 and 2006 for illegal substance use. If found guilty again, the Olympic gold medalist could face the prospect of being banned for life. 
For her part, Yanıt faces a two-year ban as it would be her first offense.