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French athlete Traby fails drug test

Paris (AFP) - French long distance runner Laila Traby, who won the women's 10,000m bronze at the European championships, has tested positive for banned blood booster EPO, a source told AFP on Friday.

The Moroccan-born 35-year-old was arrested and placed in custody on November 7 after EPO and other illegal substances were found in a raid in a flat she uses for a training camp in southwest France.

"I've been wrongly accused, I'm a victim of a conspiracy," Traby wrote on her Facebook page at the time.

"I've been well and truly trapped," she added, insisting she was "a clean and honest athlete."

Traby finished third in the 10,000 meters at the European Championships in Zurich in August, behind winner Jo Pavey of Britain and Clemence Calvin of France.

EPO, or Erythropoietin, is a hormone naturally produced by the kidneys which can be artificially produced to improve endurance in athletes by injecting it into the bloodstream.