MONTE CARLO (Monaco), May 15: The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has banned Russian runner Lyubov Denisova from competition for two years after she failed a doping test.

Denisova, a two-time Los Angeles Marathon winner who set a course record at the Honolulu Marathon in Dec, tested positive for prostanozol and testosterone in a March 20 sample collected out-of-competition, the IAAF said.

The ineligibility period began April 27 and will run to April 26, 2009, the IAAF said in a Friday posting on its website. The IAAF also disqualified all results from March 20, 2007.

Denisova's agent Andrey Baranov contends that the runner, who moved to Gainesville, Florida, from Moscow in Jan, made a mistake while buying vitamins on the Internet with her new computer early this year. Along with the vitamins, the 35-year-old athlete also bought Orasten-E, which is banned.—AP