Russian silver medallist walker Olympiada Ivanova yesterday became the second athlete to be stripped of a World Championship medal for cheating with drugs and now faces a two-year ban.

In a statement the IAAF said Ivanova, who finished second in Thursday's 10km walk, had tested positive for the steroid stanozolol together with compatriot Lyubov Tsyoma who failed to finish her 800 metres semi-final heat on the same day.

The 27-year-old Ivanova will also lose her $30,000 prize money. Under IAAF rules, both athletes will be banned for two years, the minimum penalty for a serious doping offence.

Stanozolol was the drug used by Canadian Ben Johnson when he won the 1988 Seoul Olympics 100 metres final in world record time. Johnson lost the gold medal and the time was not recognised by the IAAF.

Ivanova, who produced the best performance of her career to win the silver medal, was the second medallist to test positive after Ukraine's world shot putt champion Aleksandr Bagach.

Bagach was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for the stimulant ephedrine but escaped with a public warning because use of the drug is not regarded as being as serious an offence as steroid abuse.

French 400 metres hurdler Pascal Maran and women's triple jumper Oxana Zelinskaya of Kazakhstan, neither of whom made the finals, also tested positive for ephedrine and were given warnings.