By Emily Goddard

Gold medalist Tezdzhan Naimova of Bulgaria poses during the victory ceremony for the Womens 60m during day three of European Indoor AthleticsJune 11 - Bulgarian European indoor sprint gold medallist Tezdzhan Naimova could be facing a life ban from athletics after a second doping offence in four years, the Bulgarian Athletics Federation confirmed today.

The 26-year-old 60 metres champion – she won gold in a personal best of 7.10sec – tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid drostanolone at the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Gothenburg in March and has been temporarily banned by her national federation.

"The Bulgarian Athletics Federation has a clear and firm policy against doping, which we followed for years," Bulgarian athletics chair Dobri Karamarinov said.

"I'm sorry for what happened to Tezdzhan and I hope she'll provide a rational explanation."

Tezdzhan Naimova won gold ahead of silver medallist Mariya Ryemyen of Ukraine and bronze medallist Myriam Soumare of FranceTezdzhan Naimova (centre) won gold ahead of Ukrainian Mariya Ryemyen (left) and Myriam Soumaré of France (right)

Naimova, who is also a Beijing 2008 Olympian, has two weeks to respond and launch an appeal and if found guilty, she will be forced to return her gold medal from the race in the Swedish city.

The athlete's first doping offence came when she was banned for two years for manipulating an out-of-competition International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) urine test in June 2008 in Sofia.

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