Americans Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan likely to receive upgraded medals after latest doping ban

Turkey bans distance runner Elvan Abeylegesse two years for doping https://t.co/RYvfC13MB8 pic.twitter.com/iOCX0C9QJN

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 1, 2016

American 10,000m runners Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan are likely to receive upgraded medals after the Turkish Athletic Federation handed Elvan Abeylegesse a two-year ban for doping. The former 5,000m world record holder won a silver at the 2007 world championships and two silver medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Goucher won bronze behind Abeylegesse at worlds in Osaka, Japan with Flanagan finishing third at the Olympics in Beijing. The 33-year-old Turkish athlete is expected to be stripped of those medals, according to Insidethegames.biz, with the two Americans in line to receive silver medals.

Better together. Extreme gratitude to teammate and Olympic Trials Marathon champ @hastyhastings for encouraging me through a really rough point in the race to make my 4th Olympic team. I'll be sharing a sneak peek of her go-to recovery recipe from our cookbook this week. Signup at runfasteatslow.com to receive.

A photo posted by Shalane Flanagan (@shalaneflanagan) on Feb 15, 2016 at 5:34am PST

The Daily Mail reported in September that the Ethiopian-born athlete was one of 28 athletes to be charged with doping offences after officials re-tested urine samples from the 2005 and 2007 world championships in Helsinki and Osaka. Her official ban was announced on March 31.

According to Sports Illustrated, the disciplinary board for the national committee in Turkey agreed to ban Abeylegesse for taking drugs at the 2007 world championships and during the Olympics the following year. She tested positive for the steroid stanozolol, according to the report.

#tbt to last months Olympic Trials Marathon. Excited to be back at it working toward the next goal. ??

A photo posted by Kara Goucher (@karagoucher) on Mar 3, 2016 at 7:15am PST

Abeylegesse has denied the allegations and has launched a lawsuit against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world governing body for athletics, citing a technical error.

Great Britian’s Jo Pavey and Kenya’s Linet Masai and Sylvia Kibet would also be in line to receive world championship or Olympic medals in addition to the Americans.

The Turkish Athletic Federation has been busy of late having banned Abeylegesse at the end of March and Gamze Bulut on March 6. Asli Cakir Alptekin of Turkey is also currently serving an eight-year ban after testing positive for drugs and being stripped of her 1,500m Olympic title.

This is what the 1,500m final at the 2012 Olympics looks like taking into consideration any links to performance-enhancing drugs:

A full backstory on the above testings can be found here.

Goucher has not been shy in commenting on fellow athletes with any sort of linkage to drugs. Watch here as she responds to questions about the Nike Oregon Project.