ANKARA, Dec 6: Turkey’s three-time Olympic champion Halil Mutlu has been banned for two years by the International Weightlifting Federation for using anabolic steroids.

The ban will end on April 20, 2007, the Turkish Weghtlifting Federation’s secretary-general Mehmet Turhan told AFP.

Mutlu has denied knowingly taking nandrolone, an anabolic steroid that boosts muscle growth, which was detected in a urine sample at the European championships in Sofia in April, where the so-called “Little Dynamo” snatched three golds in the 62kg category.—AFP