Alptekin banned for life after third doping offence

Asli Cakir Alptekin, who won Olympic gold at London 2012 before being stripped of the title, has been banned for life by the Turkish Athletics Federation for a third doping offence, state-run Anadolu news agency have reported.

Alptekin won the 1,500 metres title in London, a race where six of the first nine finishers have served drugs bans before or since, leading some to refer to it as the “dirtiest race in history”.

The 32-year-old was stripped of her 2012 Olympic and European titles in 2015 and suspended for eight years by the Turkish Athletics Federation.

She returned to the track this year, however, after the ban was halved and its start date backdated to 2013. She finished 11th in the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country event in Portugal in February.

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“Asli Cakir, who wrote history by winning a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics, has received her third punishment for doping,” Anadolu said on Friday.

"We will never ever give ground to those who become involved in doping. Everyone should know this," Turkish Athletics Federation Chairman Fatih Cintimar told Anadolu.