Monte Carlo  - The Golden League athletics series is to be doubled from six to 12 meets from 2010 onwards, a top official of the ruling body IAAF said on Sunday.

IAAF vice-president Helmut Digel of Germany said that sponsors have signalled interest despite the worldwide recession which would allow the series to move outside Europe into new markets.

Digel said that the expansion was necessary due to lower television interest in Europe in the past years.

The current Golden League hosts are Berlin, Brussels, Oslo, Paris, Rome and Zurich with athletes winning their event at all six stops eligible for a jackpot of 1 million dollars.

Monte Carlo - Jamaican supersprinter Usain Bolt and Russian pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva are among the six finalists for the World Athlete of the Year award.

The governing body IAAF said in a statement on Monday that the Bolt, who won 100m, 200m and 4x100m gold at the Beijing Olympics in world record times, double long-distance gold medallist Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia and 110m hurdles Olympic champion Dayron Robles of Cuba were the final three men.

Isinbayeva won pole vault gold with a world record. She is joined by 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia and Kenyan 800m sensation Pamela Jelimo, who also ran to gold in Beijing in August, in the women's list.

Monte Carlo - The head of the international athletics federation Friday accused International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge of showing "a lack of respect" for athletics.

Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), said he was surprised at Rogge's criticism of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt's celebrations after winning the 100 metres in world-record time at Beijing Olympics.

Monte Carlo - The IAAF, the governing body of world athletics, has imposed two-year doping bans on eight Russian athletes for testing positive a varied of substances, including the banned blood-booster EPO.

It emerged Thursday that the athletes are mostly from the sport of walking and include Vladimir Kanaykin, the 20-kilometre walk world record holder, and Alexsey Voyevodin, 50km bronze medalist at the Athens Olympics in 2004, who both tested positive for EPO in an out- of-competition test in Saransk in April.

Monte Carlo - The IAAF, the governing body of world athletics, has imposed two-year doping bans on eight Russian athletes for testing positive for the banned blood-booster EPO.

It emerged Thursday that the athletes include Vladimir Kanaikin, the 20-kilometre walk world record holder, and Alexei Voyevodin, 50km walk bronze medalist at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Last month, seven Russian athletes were suspended for two years by the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) for tampering with doping samples.

The athletes named included Yelena Soboleva, who earlier this year set a world indoor record in the women's 1,500 metres and two-time world 1,500 champion Tatyana Tomashova.

Monte Carlo - The IAAF, the governing body of world athletics, has imposed two-year doping bans on eight Russian athletes for testing positive for the banned blood-booster EPO.

It emerged Thursday that the athletes include Vladimir Kanaikin, the 20-kilometre walk world record holder, and Alexei Voyevodin,
50km walk bronze medalist at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Last month, seven Russian athletes were suspended for two years by the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) for tampering with doping samples.

The athletes named included Yelena Soboleva, who earlier this year set a world indoor record in the women's 1,500 metres and two-time world 1,500 champion Tatyana Tomashova.