Top Russian track official suspended in obstruction case

The president of Russia's track and field federation and its top anti-doping official were suspended Thursday on suspicion of obstructing an investigation, in a blow to Russia's preparations for the 2020 Olympics.

The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees disciplinary issues in track, charged Dmitry Shlyakhtin and six others with various offenses.

They are related to the case of a top high jumper, Danil Lysenko, who allegedly presented fake medical records after being accused of failing to make himself available for drug testing.

The federation as a whole is facing charges, as are Shlyakhtin and four of its senior officials, including the federation's anti-doping coordinator Elena Ikonnikova. Lysenko and his coach Evgeny Zagorulko have also been charged.

The AIU said its investigation lasted 15 months and included intensive interviews and computer analysis. It concluded that "officials had been involved in the provision of false explanations and forged documents to the AIU in order to explain whereabouts failures by the athlete."

In September, a World Athletics taskforce said Lysenko had confessed to providing fake documents with help from officials, but he later retracted that confession.

The case comes at a time when Russia is already facing separate allegations of providing doctored lab test records to the World Anti-Doping Agency, which could implement more sanctions next month.

Russia's track federation was already officially suspended from international competition over earlier doping cases under a 2015 ruling.

The federation had been inching closer to reinstatement this year after negotiations headed by Shlyakhtin, but World Athletics officials expressed concern that anti-doping reforms weren't always being implemented on the ground.

The announcement comes the day before a council meeting of World Athletics, formerly known as the IAAF, which governs international track and field.

Russian athletes have been al