Olympics 2004World 100 metres champion Torri Edwards was banned for two years yesterday and three unnamed Russians also face exclusion from future competition as doping again clouded the build-up to the Athens Olympics

Edwards, who inherited the world title when her fellow American Kelli White was also suspended for two years after admitting taking a cocktail of drugs, responded with an immediate appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Russian Olympic Committee vice-president Vladimir Loginov said three sportsmen had returned positive A samples during pre-Olympic testing in Russia.

They had not joined the team in Athens and they would be publicly named and banned from future competition if the B samples confirmed the findings.

There was better news for Greek boxer Elias Pavlidis, who was cleared to compete in his home Games after an apparent positive test proved to be the result of a mix-up in paperwork.

Edwards had been selected to run the 100 and 200 metres for the US team in Athens and would probably have also run in the 4x100 metres.

She will be replaced in the 100 by twice-Olympic champion Gail Devers and in the 200 by LaShaunte'a Moore, the US collegiate champion.

A statement from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said Edwards, who tested positive for the stimulant nikethamide in Martinique last April, had appealed to the CAS.

CAS secretary-general Matthieu Reeb said the independent Lausanne-based body could make a decision in time for Edwards to compete at the Athens Games if she were cleared.

The athletics competition starts next Wednesday with the men's and women's shot putt finals in Olympia, with the main programme beginning two days later.

"We can make the decision in one to three days. It's very quick," he said.

The 27-year-old sprinter had contended she was given glucose tablets by her physical therapist, who did not know they contained a banned substance.

A US arbitration panel concluded there could have been exceptional circumstances but the world governing athletics body recommended a two-year ban, which was accepted by USADA.

Russian officials, who have promised a crackdown on drugs, said they were glad the suspects had been spotted early: "It is good that the positive doping results came at home and not in Athens," Loginov told Ekho Moskvy radio.

He declined further comment on Russian media reports that the failed tests were from two weightlifters and an athlete.

Meanwhile, Olympic great Sergei Bubka has called for more rigorous examination of the involvement of coaches in doping cases.

Bubka, who still holds the world pole-vault record, was re-elected unopposed to the International Olympic Committee executive yesterday to serve another four years as the athletes' representative.

The Monaco-based Ukrainian is determined to continue the pursuit of the coaches he believes encourage athletes to cheat.

The full burden of responsibility for any positive test currently falls on the athlete, with conclusive proof required of any coaching involvement before third parties can be implicated.

While Bubka can understand why such a situation he exists, he thinks it is naive to believe a young, impressionable athlete can just suddenly turn to drugs without any prompting.

"There has to be a day when someone suggests to an athlete that they should take something," said Bubka.

"How do athletes know what drugs can do or where they can get them? Eliminating that first step is crucial to the battle against doping. That is why I believe we need to target coaches as well as athletes."

Bubka was one of four re-elections to the IOC executive, although in the case of Mexico's Mario Vasquez Rana it was a hollow victory - given 34 fellow members voted against him even though he had no opponent.

Puerto Rican Richard Carrion is widely viewed as a potential future president of the IOC, but his standing took a dive when he could finish only runner-up to China's Yu Zaiqing in the vote for the two vacancies on the executive.

Meanwhile, Sweden's Gunilla Lindberg strengthened her position as the most powerful woman administrator in sport when she was elected as an IOC vice-president.