The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has suspended six Russian women from the Beijing Olympic Games after they were suspected of drug cheating, a senior official said on Thursday.

"All six are definitely suspended and will miss the Beijing Olympics," said Russia's athletics chief Valentin Balakhnichev.

The suspended six are twice world 1,500m champion Tatiana Tomashova, world indoor 1,500m champion Yelena Soboleva, distance runners Yulia Fomenko and Svetlana Cherkasova, European discus champion Daria Pishchalnikova and former hammer world record holder Gulfia Khanafeyeva.

The six were suspended by the athletics' world ruling body IAAF after discovering DNA convergence in their samples given for dope testing last year.

"We received a letter from IAAF, which said that six of our athletes - Yelena Soboleva, Daria Pishchalnikova, Gulfia Khanafeyeva, Tatiana Tomashova, Yulia Fomenko and Svetlana Cherkasova - were temporarily suspended," Balakhnichev said.

"The reason of the suspension was the convergence of DNA in the samples that were given by the athletes for dope testing last year," he added.

Balakhnichev said that five of the suspended were included in Russia's Beijing-bound Olympic squad and were the medal favourites of the upcoming Games.

Soboleva had the season's best in 800m and 1,500m, Pishchalnikova was leading the discus throwing this season, Khanafeyeva produced this season's fifth best result in hammer throw, while Tomashova and Fomenko respectively had the season's second and seventh 1500m results.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2008)