Banned athletes get a brief reprieve for London Olympics

The one-year bans on four athletes from India have been pushed back by the anti-doping appeals panel and the order clearly states that the dates of commencement of the sentences have been pushed back only to allow the athletes 'to train and compete at the London Olympics'.

The last qualifying event for relays ends on July 1 at Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Asian Games double gold medalist Ashwini Akkunji, Sini Jose, Tiana Mary Thomas, and Priyanka Panwar are among the athletes who challenged the suspensions imposed by the anti-doping disciplinary panel. The athletes had put the blame squarely on Yuri Ogorodnik, the sacked Ukrainian coach.

From Dailymail.co.uk:

The IAAF will club the cases of these four athletes with those of Mandeep Kaur and Jauna Murmu, who too had flunked dope tests and were suspended for a year each.

All these will be put before the CAS. In fact, the order, which came out on Tuesday, says very clearly that the dates of commencement of the sentences have been pushed back only to allow the athletes 'to train and compete at the London Olympics'.

Bans generally don't start from the date of sample collection and either begin from the date of provisional suspension or from when the order is pronounced.

The athletes had challenged the one-year suspensions imposed by the antidoping disciplinary panel to which the World Anti-Doping Agency had filed a counter appeal before the appeals panel seeking a two year ban.

A three-member appeals panel, headed by CK Mahajan pointed out that the athletes have proved how the prohibited substance entered their bodies and the panel was convinced with their arguments.

The latest verdict gives the athletes another chance to qualify for the London Olympics.