European sprint champion Tezdzhan Naimova banned for life
European indoor sprint champion Tezdzhan Naimova has been banned for life after testing positive for a banned steroid.
Last Updated: 17/09/13 3:46pm
Naimova, who won the 60m title at Gothenburg last March, tested positive for the banned substance drostanolone.
She had already been banned for two years for tampering with her urine in an out-of-competition test in Sofia in 2009.
In a statement the Bulgarian federation said Naimova, who won two gold medals at the 2006 world junior championships in Beijing, would be stripped of her title and all her results between March and June would be annulled.
Ukrainian Mariya Ryemyen, who came second in Gothenburg, will not receive the gold with France's Myriam Soumare taking the silver medal and Bulgarian Ivet Lalova the bronze.
Naimova can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
Bulgarian athletics has been marred by a series of doping offences in recent years.
Sprinter Inna Eftimova, middle-distance runners Daniela Yordanova, Vanya Stambolova and Teodora Kolarova, high jumper Venelina Veneva and hammer thrower Andrian Andreev have all tested positive for banned substances in the past five years.
