Sadova faces drugs ban

"She declined to have her B sample tested, thus accepting a penalty," Valery Kulichenko said on Wednesday.

Sadova, 34, tested positive for an unspecified anabolic steroid at an invitational meeting in the Dutch town of Hengelo on May 28.

"While she maintains her innocence, saying she has never intentionally taken any prohibited drugs, she doesn't want this case to drag on for weeks and months," Kulichenko continued.

"Even if she gets a two-year ban, as expected, she would be eligible to resume her athletics career in two years and could still compete at the 2008 Bejing Olympics."

Sadova won an Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004 and silver at the Sydney Games four years earlier.

After winning the 2001 world championships in Edmonton she failed a drugs test for caffeine, but was later cleared.