The International Association of Athletics Federations said on its website the athletes, including Yelena Soboleva, who set a world record in the 1,500-meter race at the world indoor championships this year, were suspended "for a fraudulent substitution of urine which is both a prohibited method and also a form of tampering with the doping control process."
Valentin Balakhnichev, head of the All Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF), was quoted by Russian media as saying that the IAAF had analyzed doping samples stored since April 2007 using comparative DNA techniques.
"The third set of samples was taken in Moscow last week and has been analyzed already, showing that the DNA samples dated April-May 2007 do not correspond to [their] true DNA," he said. "This prompted the IAAF to suspect our athletes of substituting doping samples and to suspend them from all competitions."
Also suspended were two-times world 1,500-meter champion Tatyana Tomashova, another 1,500-meter runner Yulia Fomenko, hammer thrower Gulfiya Khanafeyeva, discus thrower Darya Pishchalnikova, and middle-distance runners Svetlana Cherkasova and Olga Yegorova.
Soboleva, Tomashova and Pishchalnikova, the European discus champion and World Championship silver medalist in Osaka, were medal hopefuls for the Beijing Olympics. The Games will take place August 8-24.
Under IAAF Rules, athletes have 14 days to request a hearing with the National Member Federation. If a hearing is requested, it must be held within two months.
The IAAF said it would make no further comment until a final decision has been taken by the ARAF, which now assumes responsibility to adjudicate these cases.
Speaking later Thursday on Ekho Moskvy radio, Balakhnichev said the athletes denied the accusations, but accepted the sanctions to avoid a scandal that could affect Russia's Olympic team.
He said the investigation would take no longer than two weeks, and in theory the athletes could be in Beijing for the start of track and field events on August 15.
