ATHLETICS: Russia has withdrawn its world-beating team of race-walkers from all international competitions to avoid "disgrace" in the wake of a series of doping allegations.

Head coach Viktor Chegin has also announced his retirement, Russian media reported on Thursday.

More than 25 Russian walkers have been punished for doping in recent years, with at least 20 of them trained by Chegin, who is under investigation by athletics' world governing body and the Russian anti-doping agency.

Since the start of last year, four Russian Olympic race-walking champions have received doping bans.

The Russian athletics federation said in a statement that it has withdrawn its walkers from competitions "to avoid causing damage to the image of Russian athletics and Russian sport as a whole".

The team will not compete until the Russian anti-doping agency finishes its investigation into Chegin, which was announced on Wednesday.

That is "99 per cent" likely to mean no Russian walkers will compete at next month's world athletics championships in Beijing, the federation's acting president Vadim Zelichenok told Russia's R-Sport agency.

The only chance for them to compete will be if the investigation is concluded very swiftly, he added.

"At the moment, there is the suspicion that this discipline (of athletics) could bring us disgrace at the world championships," Zelichenok said.

AAP