WASHINGTON, Nov 12: Four US athletes face lengthy bans after the international track federation (IAAF) confirmed they had tested positive for a new designer steroid, USA Today newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The four unnamed athlete’s B samples tested positive for tetrahydrogestrinone at the United States Track and Field Championships in June at Stanford University near San Francisco.

The initial results was confirmed by a B test, or second urine sample, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies told the newspaper.

The results of the second urine samples means the testing lab in Paris will begin retesting about 400 samples from August’s World Track and Field Championships in Paris for THG, the newspaper said.

The athletes were not named by the IAAF but local media reports have linked shot putter Kevin Toth and middle distance runner Regina Jacobs to the designer steroid.

Toth and Jacobs recently testified to a grand jury investigating San Francisco-based nutritional supplements lab BALCO.

Athletes who test positive are entitled to defend themselves through hearings.

If the positive tests are upheld after the hearings the athletes could be banned for up to two years.—APP