Grigoryeva, a European silver medallist over 10,000 metres in 2006, claimed the 2007 Boston Marathon title in 2hours 29min 18sec before triumphing in Chicago in 2:27:17 the following year.

The 42-year-old also claimed marathon titles in 2005 in Paris and in 2006 in Los Angeles.

In a statement posted on the latest list of positive cases, the IAAF explained that she had been found guilty of an Athlete Biological Passport Case, but specified no further details.

She will be ineligible from February 16, 2016 until August 15 in 2018.

But she will only be stripped of results achieved between April 17, 2009 until May 14, 2010, meaning that both her Boston and Chicago victories will remain in the record books.

It comes after Grigoryeva's fellow marathon runner Lilya Shobukhova was banned from the sport and stripped of her win at the 2010 London Marathon and victories at the Chicago Marathon in 2009, 2010 and 2011 after her biological passport showed "abnormal haematological curves".

Two other Russians have also been banned.

Distance runners Alyona Kudashkina and Larisa Kleimenova have also been handed respective bans of two-and-a-half and four years.

Kudashkina also registered an adverse biological passport finding, while Kleymenova tested positive at last year's Russian Relay Championships.

Also on the list is Morocco's Amine Laalou, a silver medallist over 1500m at the 2010 African Championships.

He is handed an eight-year ban after failed an out-of-competition test in April.

He previously served a two-year ban after testing positive for banned diuretic furosemide in 2012.