Three-time Chicago Marathon champion Lilya Shobukhova has officially been banned for doping and will be stripped of her racing titles since 2009, the Chicago Marathon announced Thursday.
Marathon organizers said they were officially made aware that Shobukhova received a doping ban by the International Association of Athletics Federations and the organization has disqualified all of her results as of Oct. 9, 2009.
“Upon receiving notification of the doping ban and disqualification, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon began taking steps to annul Shobukhova’s 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 records,” the marathon said in a statement. “The standings of the athletes who placed behind her in 2014 will be updated.”
The athletes now eligible for prize money won’t receive the payments until Shobukhova repays her prize money, the marathon said.
“Our race continues to be a strong advocate for strict anti-doping measures, and while upsetting; this is an example of why these measures are in place and why we believe in increased out of competition drug testing,” Carey Pinkowski, Bank of America Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director, said in a statement.
The Russian athletics federation said in April 2014 that it banned Shobukhova until this past January for abnormal biological passport values and stripped her results. Shobukhova won three times in Chicago and once in London in that time, also collecting $1 million in prize money as a two-time leader of the World Marathon Majors rankings.
"Any athlete found guilty of a doping offense will be required to repay any prize or appearance money earned at WMM events including WMM series prize money," the race organizers' group said in a statement at the time.
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The 36-year-old Shobukhova's time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, 20 seconds in Chicago in 2011 made her the second-fastest women's marathon runner behind record holder Paula Radcliffe of Britain.
"Lilya Shobukhova finally exposed as a drug cheat," Radcliffe wrote on her Twitter account. "Action needs to be taken to show cheating not acceptable. Monies won should be returned and rightful winners recognized."
Shobukhova won three straight in Chicago from 2009 and placed fourth the following year. In London, she was third in 2009, won in 2010 and was second the next year.
Those results lifted her to first place in the major marathons series to get the 2009-10 and 2011-12 season titles.
