United States middle distance runner Brenda Martinez welcomed the exclusion of Russian athletes from the World Indoors Athletics Championships and said she believes the ban should be extended to the Olympics. Martinez, 28, was robbed of a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships by drugs cheat Mariya Savinova, who was recommended for a life ban in last year's bombshell World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report into doping in Russia. Martinez said that this week's indoor championships in Portland would benefit from the absence of the Russians, who are serving an indefinite ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Asked if she thought it was a good thing that Russian athletes had been excluded from the championships, Martinez replied: "Definitely it is. They're suffering the consequences." Martinez joined the growing chorus of athletes around the world who believe that Russian athletes should also be banned from the Olympic party in Rio de Janeiro in August, expressing fears that drug cheats may still be receiving residual benefits from years of doping. "You can't clean up something like that in less than a year," Martinez said. "You get benefits off these drugs."
