Anastasia Bazdyreva pulls out of World Championships amid doping allegations

Russian 800m runner Anastasia Bazdyreva has been ruled out of the World Athletics Championships after she was accused of doping violations in a TV documentary.

Despite continuing to protest her innocence, Bazdyreva has stolen much of the focus in the build-up to the meeting after German channel ARD claimed to obtain footage of her taking steroids, and many of her rivals have called for a full investigation.

"Bazdyreva has decided not to take part in the world championships because of the allegations made in the film," Vadim Zelichenok, the acting head of Russia's athletics federation, told R-Sport.

"We could have included her but she said, 'I want to dismiss all the suspicions surrounding me and carry on training'."

The 800m heats get underway on Wednesday.