The IAAF has stripped Russia of its women’s 4x400m relay gold medal from the Moscow 2013 World Championships ©Getty Images

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has stripped Russia of its women's 4x400 metres relay gold medal from the Moscow 2013 World Championships, following the decision to hand a two-year suspension to team member Antonina Krivoshapka.

Krivoshapka has also been stripped of the individual 400m bronze medal she won at the event in Russia's capital four years ago.

She was one of five Russian athletes to be handed two-year suspensions after pleading guilty in doping cases involving the London 2012 Olympic Games and the 2013 World Championships.

The quintet also includes shot putter Yevgenia Kolodko, hammer thrower Anna Bulgakova, discus thrower Vera Ganeyeva and pole vaulter Dmitry Starodubtsev.

With the Russian relay team disqualified, a United States squad of Jessica Beard, Natasha Hastings, Ashley Spencer and Francena McCorory looks set to be promoted to World Championship gold.

Britain and France would be upgraded to silver and bronze respectively.

Stephanie McPherson of Jamaica would be upgraded to individual bronze.

Shot putter Yevgeniya Kolodko is among those to be handed a two-year suspension ©Getty Images
Shot putter Yevgeniya Kolodko is among those to be handed a two-year suspension ©Getty Images

The Russian team also included Tatyana Firova, who has already been retrospectively disqualified from Beijing 2008 for doping.

Krivoshapka had already been stripped of the silver medal she won as part of the 4x400m relay team at London 2012, while Kolodko lost the silver medal she won in the shot put.

Both Krivoshapka and Kolodko have been handed backdated two-year bans expiring in 2018.

Krivoshapka's is from September 7, 2016 to September 6, 2018, while Kolodko's is from July 2, 2016 to July 1, 2018.

The suspensions of Starodubtsev and Ganeeva range from the same dates as that of Kolodko, while Bulgakova's is from March 29, 2017 to March 28, 2019.

All five failed retests for banned anabolic steroid turinabol.

New techniques provided by former Moscow Laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov, who has since defected to the US, can detect steroids in the body for far longer.