London Marathon chief executive Nick Bitel has vowed not to give up on their pursuit of Liliya Shobukhova for prize and appearance money the Russian has been ordered to return after she was banned for drugs.

Disgraced Russian runner Liliya Shobukhova has been ordered to repay prize and appearance money totalling nearly £378,000 ($498,000/€450,000) to London Marathon Events Ltd after she was banned for doping in 2014.

London Marathon chief executive Nick Bitel will hold urgent talks in Beijing this week with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) following the reinstatement of self-confessed drugs cheat Liliya Shobukhova.

London Marathon chief executive Nick Bitel has said he is “very concerned” by the latest doping allegations published by the Sunday Times, which claims seven London winners in a 12-year period recorded suspicious blood scores, and he criticised the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) “failure to take effective action”.