Olympic 1,500m champion Cakir cleared by Turkish chiefs

Istanbul: Olympic 1,500 metres champion Asli Cakir Alptekin has been cleared of doping violations, the Turkish athletics federation said in a statement on Thursday.

Cakir was provisionally suspended by the federation in May after abnormalities were detected in her biological passport, resulting in her missing the world championships in Moscow in August. She had already served a two-year suspension in 2004 after a positive dope test at the world junior championships. A second offence could have resulted in a lifetime ban. The governing International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), however, said it had not yet received the full judgement on Cakir in English. "We will review the decision upon receipt and decide whether or not it should be appealed to CAS (the Court of Arbitration for Sport) as per IAAF rules," spokesman Chris Turner said in an email to Reuters. Biological passports work by creating individual blood profiles for each athlete, rather than testing for specific performance-enhancing drugs. If a blood reading deviates markedly from previous measures an athlete can face a doping charge. More than 30 athletes, including double European 100 metres hurdles champion Nevin Yanit, have been suspended by the Turkish federation for doping this year. The scandal is likely to have affected Istanbul`s unsuccessful bid to host the 2020 Olympics, a vote won by Tokyo in September.