Ennis-Hill set to receive 2011 gold after Chernova stripped of world title

ZURICH (Reuters) - Russian heptathlete Tatyana Chernova was stripped of her 2011 world title on Tuesday for a doping violation, with Britain's Jessica Ennis-Hill set to be awarded the gold medal. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said in a statement that analysis of Chernova's Biological Passport showed evidence of blood doping. Sport's highest tribunal annulled the Russian's results achieved between Aug. 15, 2011 and July 22, 2013, stripping her of the world title she won five years ago as well as her bronze medal from the London Olympics in 2012. Ennis-Hill, who retired from athletics last month, finished second behind Chernova in Daegu and will become a triple world champion having also claimed heptathlon gold in 2009 and 2015. "We have always known that Jess was the 2011 world champion, so it is nice to be able to finally be able to say it in public," Ennis-Hill's coach Toni Minichiello was quoted as saying by Britain's Guardian. "It just adds credence to my belief that she is the best female athlete Britain has ever produced. She goes down as a three-time world champion, an Olympic gold and silver medallist, and a fantastic, fantastic athlete." CAS also banned Chernova for three years and eight months from Feb. 5 this year, although it said a two-year suspension already imposed on the athlete from July 2013 by the Russian Anti-doping Agency would be deducted from her total ban period. Russian middle distance runners Ekaterina Sharmina and Kristina Ugarova were also sanctioned by CAS following an analysis of their biological passports. "All three athletes have been found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation ... of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) Competition Rules after analysis of their Athlete Biological Passports (ABP) showed evidence of blood doping," CAS said in a statement. Sharmina will be banned for three years from Dec. 7, 2015, and Ugarova for two years, beginning Sept. 7, 2015. The IAAF, the sport's governing body, introduced biological passports for athletes, that help in the detection of abnormal fluctuations in red blood cell counts, as part of its drug testing regime in 2009. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Toby Davis)