10,000 meters champ gets 2-year ban

Former European 10,000 meters champion Inga Abitova has been handed a two-year ban for breaking anti-doping regulations, the Russian athletics federation (VFLA) said on Wednesday.Abitova, 30, who won gold at the 2006 European championships in Gothenburg, was banned for an abnormal haemoglobin profile in her biological passport, the VFLA said on its website (www.rusathletics.com).The Russian also won silver over the same distance at the 2010 European championships in Barcelona and finished second at the London marathon that year.She came in fourth in the 10,000 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but failed to make the Russian Olympic team this year.The VFLA has annulled Abitovas results from Oct. 10, 2009 while her suspension began on Oct. 11, 2012.In July, the VFLA handed two-year bans to three other leading female Russian long-distance runners, including 2010 European marathon champion Nailya Yulamanova.