Asli Cakir Alptekin banned: Eight-year suspension for London 2012 gold medallist

The Turkish athlete won gold in the 1500m

Turkey's Asli Cakir Alptekin crosses the line to win the 1500m (AP)

Turkey’s Asli Cakir Alptekin has been stripped of the 2012 Olympic women’s 1500 metres gold medal and banned for eight years for a doping offence, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced.

CAS said “abnormal values” had been found in her blood samples collected between July 2010 and October 2012.

Although Cakir was cleared of doping by the Turkish Athletics Federation, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) disagreed with the ruling and referred the case to CAS.

The announcement followed a negotiated settlement between the IAAF, the Turkish federation and the athlete, CAS said.

Cakir, 29, served a two-year suspension in 2004 after a positive dope test at the world junior championships.

Meanwhile, Olympic and world champion distance runner Mo Farah believes Lord Coe is the right man to clean up athletics as the next IAAF president. Coe will take on Sergey Bubka in the presidential election in the early hours of tomorrow in Beijing.

As athletics finds itself under scrutiny after a litany of doping stories, Farah said: “I hope he gets that job, because I believe he can change athletics. What he did for London 2012 was incredible so I believe he can do a great job.”

Coe came out fighting when reports emerged two weeks ago of a leaked database of 5,000 athletes’ blood samples, which leading scientists said showed a third of medallists in Olympic and World Championship endurance events between 2001 and 2012 had suspicious readings. The former middle-distance runner described the reports as “a declaration of war on my sport”.

Farah’s challenge at this year’s World Championship get under way on Saturday in the men’s 10,000 metres at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing.