Bazdyreva to miss Beijing after doping allegations

"Bazdyreva has decided not to take part in the world championships because of the allegations made in the film," Zelichenok said in an interview with the R-Sport news agency.

"We could have included her but she said: 'I want to dismiss all the suspicions surrounding me and carry on training'."

The world championships in Beijing open on Saturday and Zelichenok said the 23-year-old Bazdyreva, the Russian indoor champion, had risked attracting unwarranted attention.

"It was obvious that they would not leave her alone," Zelichenok said.

Allegations stemming from a television documentary released by German broadcaster ARD on Aug. 1 have plunged athletics into crisis.

ARD and Britain's Sunday Times newspaper obtained a leaked database, belonging to the sport's governing body the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which contained more than 12,000 blood tests taken from some 5,000 athletes between 2001 and 2012.

Their investigation resulted in allegations that the data showed more than 800 suspicious results which were not followed up by the IAAF.

The governing body has denied media reports that it suppressed a 2001 survey that revealed that up to a third of the world's top competitors had admitted using banned performance-enhancing techniques, and incoming president Sebastian Coe has pledged to set up an independent anti-doping body for the sport.