Four Russian athletes banned from the Olympic Games are provisionally suspended by their sport

Four Russian skeleton athletes banned from the Olympic Games for doping have been suspended by their sport.

The four were banned for life from competing in future Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) earlier this week.

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation said on Friday it had suspended the athletes - Sochi gold medallist Alexander Tretiakov, bronze medallist Elena Nikitina and team-mates Maria Orlova and Olga Potylitsyna - "in light of the decisions of the IOC".

The quartet were investigated further following last year's publication of the McLaren Report, which detailed a state-sponsored doping programme in Russia.

The Russian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation said it was "surprised" by the IOC's "hasty" decision and has called on the IBSF to set up a special commission to look into the cases.