The Turkish Athletics Federation on Friday slapped a life ban on former 1500m European Champion Sureyya Ayhan for using banned substances, her second testing scandal since 2004, a federation spokesman said.
"Ayhan has been banned from the track for life since this is her second offence," the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
Her trainer and husband, Yucel Kop, was given a two-year ban for his responsibility in the incident, he added.
Ayhan tested positive for the anabolic steroids methandienone and stanozolol at an out of competition test in September in the United States where she was training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The 29-year-old athlete has denied knowingly taking the subtances.
Following Friday's verdict, a teary-eyed Ayhan said she would appeal against the ban both at home and at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
"I am determined to follow this matter right to the end," she said in televised remarks.
Ayhan's first brush with doping authorities came in 2004 when the International Association of Athletics Federations said in a report that she had shied away from taking doping tests and had tried to submit someone else's urine sample while training in Germany ahead of the Athens Olympics.
{{/usCountry}}Ayhan's first brush with doping authorities came in 2004 when the International Association of Athletics Federations said in a report that she had shied away from taking doping tests and had tried to submit someone else's urine sample while training in Germany ahead of the Athens Olympics.
{{/usCountry}}Ayhan rejected charges of using banned substances, but admitted to a serious dispute with doping inspectors over how the sample should be taken.
In the end, she was given a two-year penalty for violating testing rules.
Ayhan, who won the 1500m European title in Munich in 2002 and the silver medal in the 2003 World Championships, has not run a single race since her ban ended in late 2006.