Liliya Shobukhova loses Chicago and London Marathon titles

Liliya Shobukhova, Women's Marathon 2012 Olympics
Liliya Shobukhova, Women’s Marathon 2012 Olympics

Russian marathoner Liliya Shobukhova has officially been stripped of her four world marathon major titles. Last year, after having variations in her biological passport, she was suspended by the country’s doping authorities.

Before the revelation that she was cheating, Shobukhova was the only person to have ever won the Chicago Marathon three years in a row (2009-2011). All of her performances after Oct. 9, 2009, have been stripped. She also loses her 2010 London Marathon win.

With her results officially being removed from the records, many races and the World Marathon Majors will likely be looking to reclaim prize money paid out to the 37-year-old. She took home $1 million from twice winning the World Marathon Majors title, $346,000 from her Chicago Marathon wins and $56,000 from her win in London.

She had also previously been ranked as the second-fastest female marathoner of all-time, running 2:18:20 to win the London Marathon in 2011.

The 18 months that she’s already served throughout her appeal have been retroactively applied to her four year suspension. She will again be eligible to compete next March. The London and Boston Marathons take place in April, although it’s uncertain if she will receive an invitation to race either major, especially if she refuses to pay back the revoked prize money.

The news came amid doping allegations levelled against the International Association of Athletics Federations that they ignored suspicious drug test results dating back to 2001.

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