Banned heptathlete Chernova fails with CAS appeal
Tatyana Chernova has failed to overturn a ruling made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last November.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed Russian heptathlete Tatyana Chernova's appeal against her suspension for a doping violation.
Chernova was stripped of the bronze medal she won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and banned for three years and eight months from February last year for blood doping offences.
CAS ruled last November that the 29-year-old must also surrender her 2012 Olympic bronze and 2011 World Championship gold after it was revealed in 2015 a banned substance had been found in her system from a test taken in 2009.
Chernova launched an appeal after the IAAF referred the dispute to CAS for a first-instance decision in place of the All-Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF).
CAS on Tuesday revealed that her appeal has been thrown out.
A CAS statement said: "The CAS Panel found that there was a valid arbitration agreement referring the matter to CAS for a first-instance decision in place of ARAF and accordingly, the athlete's submission concerning the jurisdiction of the CAS first-instance decision failed.
"As this was the only issue raised in the appeal, the Panel dismissed the appeal and confirmed the initial CAS award of 29 November 2016."