Marta Dominguez: Spanish athlete stripped of 2009 world title

Marta Dominguez crossing the line first in the 3,000m steeplechase at Berlin 2009

Spanish middle-distance runner Marta Dominguez has been stripped of her 2009 world steeplechase title and given a three-year doping ban.

Dominguez, 40, was accused of doping in 2013 when abnormalities were found in her blood passport dating back to 2009.

But the Spanish athletics federation, of which Dominguez had been a vice-president, cleared her in 2014.

However, that decision has now been reversed on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

The appeal came from the IAAF, the sport's governing body, and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

Dominguez claimed her anomalous readings were caused by a medical condition.

But Cas said that explanation was not "sufficient" to dissuade it from "scientific evidence" of an anti-doping violation presented by IAAF and Wada experts.

Dominguez was the biggest name implicated in the 2010 Operation Galgo, or Greyhound, scandal, but was cleared a year later

Dominguez's results between 5 August 2009 and 8 July 2013 have been disqualified, which means she loses her Berlin 2009 gold and 2010 European 3,000m steeplechase silver medal.

The athlete who came second to Dominguez in Berlin was Russia's Yuliya Zaripova, who is serving a two-and-a-half year ban for doping that is subject to another appeal.

But the cancellation of her 2010 European silver should mean an upgrade for Britain's Hatti Archer, who finished fourth in that race. In fact, the two other runners ahead of her - Zaripova and Lyubov Kharlamova - have both been given bans but were eligible to race at the time.

Dominguez retains her 5,000m silver medals from the 2001 and 2003 World Championships, as well as two European golds from 2002 and 2006.

She was acquitted in 2011 of distributing performance-enhancing drugs after being charged as part of Operation Galgo - an investigation into doping in Spanish athletics.