Olympic hammer champ Nazarov out of worlds in doping case

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The Olympic champion in the hammer throw, Dilshod Nazarov, is out of the world championships over a failed doping test.

The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees doping cases in track and field, says Nazarov is provisionally suspended after a retest of his sample from the 2011 world championships came back positive for the banned steroid turinabol.

Nazarov’s 2016 gold is Tajikistan’s only Olympic victory as an independent nation. He was a world championship silver medalist the year before.

The AIU also says it has suspended Albert Rop, a Kenyan-born runner who competes for Bahrain and holds the Asian record in the 5,000 meters. He’s accused of breaking so-called whereabouts rules requiring athletes to make themselves available for drug testing.

The world championships start Friday in Qatar.