In the late 70s and early 80s, she was one of the Soviet Union's top 1500-meter runners, with a 3:56.5 PR in 1982. As I recall, she was briefly suspended a few years ago after testing positive for a stimulant (ephedrine, I believe) after winning the women's division of the Houston Marathon. She attributed the positive test to a cold medicine, and actually returned to win Houston again in a later year. I don't know if she has ever been suspended for a doping violation at any other time; I'm certainly not aware of any other incident. I admit, however, that her overall history in the sport has made me suspicious.
A couple of other notable aspects of her performance in L.A. yesterday: I believe that she was the top master, male or female, for the second straight year. Also, I believe that only one U.S. runner of any age, male or female, ran faster in yesterday's race. (To me, that actually says more about U.S. marathoning than it does about her.)