Russia bans 3 runners for 'biometric abnormalities'

The Russian Athletics Federation has handed down two-year bans on three runners - Svetlana Klyuka, Yevgenia Zinuriva and Nailya Yulamanova -- the federation press service reported Tuesday. The report said that the sanctions had been decided following the discovery of "abnormal indexes in their biometric passports". Klyuka, the 2006 European Championship runner-up over 800 metres, was banned from February 10, 2012 along with the 2010 European Championships' marathon winner Yulamanova. Zinurova, who won gold over 800m at the 2011 European indoor championships, was handed a two-year ban backdated to September 13, 2011. The bans means that the three runners will be unable to compete in the national championships taking place this week, ruling them out of contention for the London Olympics.