8 Russian athletes banned for doping

MOSCOW - Six Russian male weightlifters and two female cyclists have been banned for breaking anti-doping regulations.

"The Russian Weightlifting Federation (RWF), on the basis of RUSADA decisions, decided to suspend six athletes for doping violations," the country's anti-doping agency said on its website (www.rusada.ru) on Tuesday.

Evgeny Kolomiets and Yury Selyutin were banned for 10 years, starting in October 2013, for repeated abuse.

Mikhail Reznitchenko, Tejmur Alekserov and Dmitry Srybnyi were suspended for two years while Oleg Musokhranov was banned for three months, starting on Nov. 7, 2013.

Cyclists Elena Bocharinkova and Yana Bezrukova were also suspended for two years from July 10, 2013, RUSADA said without elaborating.

In April the RWF banned eight weightlifters for breaking anti-doping regulations.

Denis Shiryakov was suspended for life and Maxim Matveyev for four years while six others were banned for up to two years.

Russia has been forced to step up its fight against doping in recent months after being criticised by international anti-doping officials for being too soft on drug cheats.

Several years ago the International Weightlifting Federation threatened to ban the country from major championships after a number of Russians failed drug tests.