Belarusians must wait for Olympic doping hearing

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LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- Two Belarusian hammer throwers stripped of their Olympic medals for doping must wait until next year to try to win them back at an appeal hearing.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Thursday that a new delay means Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan will plead their case over three days from Jan. 25-27.

The hearing was originally set for one day last July, then put back until Dec. 4-5.

Devyatovskiy and Tsikhan won silver and bronze medals at the Beijing Games, then tested positive for abnormal levels of testosterone.

The International Olympic Committee disqualified the pair last December.

Devyatovskiy could face a lifetime ban for his second doping offense. Tsikhan is a three-time world champion.

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