Olympic discus silver medalist Darya Pishchalnikova has been suspended by the sport's world governing body, the IAAF, after failing a drugs test, the Russian anti-doping agency said Saturday.
"On the basis of the test result from the World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory in Lausanne, the IAAF has temporarily suspended Pishchalnikova from Oct. 31," the agency said on its website.
The Russian, who denies any wrongdoing, could face a life ban from the sport because it is her second offense. She served a doping ban of two years nine months from July 2008 to April 2011.
The 27-year-old was among seven leading female Russian athletes found guilty of manipulating drug samples before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
She also won silver at the 2007 world championships in Osaka, Japan, but was stripped of the medal after the IAAF annulled all her results from May that year.
It was the latest in a series of doping offenses by the Russian athletes in the past week.
Two days ago the Russian anti-doping agency suspended hammer thrower Kirill Ikonnikov, who finished fifth at this year's London Olympics, for failing a drug test.
On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee stripped shot putter Svetlana Krivelyova of her bronze medal from the 2004 Athens Games.
Krivelyova, 43, who has long retired from the sport, tested positive for anabolic steroids after her samples from eight years ago were re-tested.
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