(Reuters) – Turkish steeplechaser Gulcan Mingir has been banned for two years after a re-test of her samples from the London Olympics in 2012 revealed the presence of a prohibited substance, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Thursday.
Mingir, who was European champion in the 3,000-metre (1.9 mile) steeplechase in 2012, tested positive for an anabolic-androgenic steroid and her results from the period between Aug. 4, 2012 and Aug. 3, 2014 had been disqualified, the AIU said on its website https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/disciplinary-process/first-instance-decisions.
The 31-year-old’s ban has been backdated to Feb 3, 2020.
The sanction does not affect the gold medal Mingir won at the European Championships in Helsinki a few months prior to the London Games, where she was eliminated during the heats.
Ukrainian middle-distance runner Nataliya Krol was banned for 20 months after testing positive for a diuretic and masking agent in an out-of-competition sample provided on Jan. 16 2020, the AIU said.
The 25-year-old, a double European 800-metre champion, has accepted the sanction, it added.
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
