Meadows handed Euro indoor gold after Russians banned for doping

Jenny Meadows has had her 800m silver medal at the 2011 European Indoor Championships upgraded to gold after Yevgenia Zinurova was one of three Russian athletes banned for doping.

Marathon runner Nailiya Yulamanova and 800m specialists Zinurova and Svetlana Klyuka have received two-year bans from the Russian Athletics Federation.

All three will now miss London 2012.

Meadows will also miss this summer's Olympics after not being selected in Team GB's athletics squad.

The 31-year-old, who just lost out to Zinurova in Paris in 2011 when the Russian passed her in the home straight, had indicated before Tuesday's team announcement that she would appeal if not selected but has decided not to fight the decision.

As well as the doping charges, Russian trio Yulamanova, Zinurova and Klyuka were also suspended for "abnormal indexes in their biometric passports", the first time Russian athletes have been banned for such offences.

Yulamanova, 31, finished second in the marathon at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona.

But she was awarded the gold medal after the original winner, Lithuania's Zivile Balciunaite, was disqualified and banned for using steroids.

Yulamanova also finished eighth in the marathon at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Both Yulamanova's and Klyuka's suspensions have been backdated from February 2012, while 800m indoor European champion Zinurova's ban began in September 2011.

Their suspensions mean all three are ineligible to compete at this week's Russian championships in Cheboksary, and therefore cannot compete at London 2012.

"This is the first time athletes have been suspended in Russia because of abnormality of their biometric passports," said Russian Athletics Federation president Valentin Balakhnichyov.

"We know such practice has been widely used in cycling but unfortunately it's now been the case with our athletes as well.

"It's a huge loss for our team but their guilt has been proven beyond doubt."