The 27-year-old Lincolnshire athlete, whose sample showed up the anabolic steroids testosterone and clenbuterol during the Bedford International Games on June 12, had looked capable of making an impact at London 2012 after breaking into the British team last year. Wilson blamed a contaminated sample for the cause of her positive test.

UK Anti-Doping chief executive, Andy Parkinson, said: "This sends a strong message to anyone looking to dope in the UK."

Wilson competed over 60 metres at the European Indoor Championships in Paris last March after finishing second behind Jodie Williams at the UK Indoor Trials in Sheffield the previous month with a personal best of 7.25sec.

She also won the English 100m trials for the 2010 Commonwealth Games but missed out on selection for Delhi because she failed to achieve the required qualifying time.

Wilson, suspended by an independent disciplinary panel last July, was given the maximum punishment permitted under the World Anti-Doping Agency code for a first-time offence.

According to the code, the mandatory two-year ban can be raised to four years if "the athlete or other person used or possessed multiple prohibited substances".

Her four-year ban was initially revealed on a newsletter distributed by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
July 2011: British sprinter facing ban after testing positive for drugs