IAAF set to implement four-year doping bans

Longer suspensions aimed at making Olympics cleaner

Athletics will return to four-year bans for first-time dopers in 2015, putting an end to the practice of Olympic athletes suspended for doping being allowed to compete in the following Games.

Having been forced to cut its ban from four to two years in 1997 to bring it in line with other leading sports and get worldwide governments on board, the International Association of Athletics Federations has been under increasing pressure to restore the stiffer penalty in the wake of a slew of high-profile doping cases.