CHINA’S 20km walk world record-holder Liu Hong (below) has been stripped of her World Race Walking Team Championships title after testing positive for a banned substance, but a one-month suspension means she will be eligible to compete at the Rio Olympics.

MARK SHEARMAN
The IAAF confirmed that Liu, the reigning world champion over the distance, tested positive for higenamine at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Rome on May 7 – a “specified” substance which enabled her to have a heavily reduced ban, which she served from June 13 to July 13.
The news of the lenient suspension has enraged many, including Liz McColgan (now Liz Lynch-Nuttall after remarrying), who branded it a “total mockery of our sport” on Twitter.