BREAKING: Russian Olympic champion Savinova stripped of gold, banned

Russian runner Maria Savinova has been stripped of her 2012 Olympic gold medal for doping, putting Caster Semenya in line to take to the title.

Savinova, who won the 800-meter title at the London Games ahead of Semenya, was also banned for four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

CAS says Savinova was "found to have been engaged in using doping" from July 2010 until August 2013.

In 2014, Savinova was caught in undercover footage filmed by Russian doping whistleblower Yulia Stepanova appearing to admit to injecting testosterone and taking the banned steroid oxandrolone.

The footage helped to spark a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation into Russia.

Following further evidence of widespread drug use, the Russian track team was suspended from all international competitions in November 2015.

AP