The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) today set a March 12 date to hear the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) appeal against Hardy, the 2007 world 50 metres breaststroke champion.

She served a one-year ban after testing positive for the anabolic agent clenbuterol before the Beijing Games.

WADA wants Hardy banned for two years and ruled ineligible for London under International Olympic Committee doping rules.

A US tribunal set a shorter ban and asked for Hardy's Olympic status to be preserved because it believed a contaminated supplement caused the positive test.

Hardy has set several breaststroke world records since her ban expired last July, including breaking Yuliya Efimova's world record in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 29.95sec to become the first woman under 30 seconds in the event.

Hardy then lowered the world record for the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:04.45, en-route her own world record in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 29.80.

At the 2009 World Cup, in October 17, Hardy broke her own 50m breaststroke short course record set in April 2008 with a time of 29.45.

On November 7, 2009, Hardy again bettered her own world record in the 50 m breaststroke with a time of 29.36 and, less than a week later, for a third time with a 28.96, the first woman to go sub 29 in the 50m short course breaststroke.

She later bettered her record for the fourth time with a time of 28.80. 0.16 seconds faster than her previous record.

Hardy was the overall winner in the female division for the 2009 FINA Swimming World Cup, receiving $100,000 (£61,000) for her efforts.