Christine Ohuruogu has won her appeal against a lifetime Olympic ban and is now free to compete for Great Britain at next year’s Games in Beijing.

The 400 metres world champion put forward her case in a 3½-hour appeal hearing yesterday and learnt this morning that the British Olympic Association (BOA) had accepted her reasons for missing three out-of-competition doping tests.

The 23-year-old Londoner had appeared before a Sports Dispute Resolutions Panel and successfully overturned a BOA by-law precluding athletes found guilty of drug-test offences from competing in any future Games.

A statement from the BOA said: “The appeals panel unanimously agreed that the written evidence supplemented by the answers given by both parties at the oral hearing provided the necessary information to take an early decision in Christine Ohuruogu’s appeal.

“It was agreed that any delay in making the decision would not be in the interests of any of the involved parties.

“The panel decided that Christine Ohuruogu’s appeal had been successful due to significant mitigating circumstances.”

Ohuruogu said: “I am so, so happy. I can honestly say I am not a drugs cheat because I have been tested during the time of my ban and during the time of my competitions.

“The testing procedures we have in place are there for a valid reason and I have accepted full responsibility for missing the tests.

“The rule was there, the punishment was there and I took what was due to me. I do kind of kick myself sometimes because of what happened but I did not wish for it and believe I dealt with it as best I could.

“It is fantastic to know that I can compete in the Olympics again.”

Further information regarding the panel’s reasoning will be made available at a later date but BOA chief executive Simon Clegg said they were happy to be able to welcome Ohuruogu into the team for Beijing. “The BOA will now be pleased to welcome Christine Ohuruogu as part of Team GB in Beijing next year in the event of her successful nomination by UK Athletics,” he said.

Clegg also defended the procedures which led to the ban being imposed in the first place. “The BOA and the panel both stress that no advance notice out of competition testing is a fundamental part of ensuring an effective fight against doping in sport,” he added.