Kelly, 24, and Stevenson, 20, ranked third and fifth in Britain last year, admitted the charge of avoiding an out-of-competition test and accepted the consequences.

Walter Nicholls, the lawyer who advised the two athletes, claimed that neither had taken banned performance-enhancing drugs and had made a mistake.

He said: "Both athletes have admitted and held up their hands to what was basically a technical offence when they refused an out of competition test on the 9 January 2010.

"They thought at the time that they had been wrongfully targeted by the authorities, and further that the testing facilities were not up to the required standard.

"They misunderstood and misinterpreted the relevant anti-doping rules and to quote the chief executive of UK Anti-Doping, Andy Parkinson, 'realised that they made a wrong decision in the heat of the moment'.

"Needless to say, they deeply regret their actions and now have to suffer the unfortunate consequences which will keep them effectively out of the sport which they love for a long period.

"They both insist that they have never taken any banned substances and would not knowingly do so."

The suspension of Kelly and Stevenson, both coached by former British record holder Geoff Capes, is due to end in February 2012 but now both banned from competing for Britain at the London 2012 Olympics under the rules of the British Olympic Association. 

But Nicholls, who is also the secretary of the Amateur Athletic Association, claimed both still planned to resume their careers.

He said: "They hope to return to competition in due course and in the meantime will do all they can to encourage other athletes to comply in all respects with the anti-doping rules."

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