updated 9:43 a.m. ET Sept. 30, 2004

BUDAPEST, Hungary - Hammer thrower Adrian Annus and discus thrower Robert Fazekas were banned from competing for two years by the Hungarian Athletics Association on Wednesday after being stripped of Olympic gold medals for drug-test violations.

Both athletes are appealing the losses of their medals at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and a spokesman for the pair said they’ll appeal the two-year suspension.

“We haven’t been officially notified of the ban, but rest assured that we will appeal,” spokesman Gabor Pal told The Associated Press.

Pal also confirmed that Annus is keeping his gold medal until the CAS appeal is closed. The first CAS hearings in both cases are expected to be in December or January.

The International Olympic Committee said last month that while Annus passed two drug tests — one before and one right after his event in Athens — the samples “showed evidence of belonging to two different athletes, indicating possible tampering.”

Annus was ordered to take another drug test after he returned to Hungary, but he failed to show up. He was stripped of the medal at an IOC disciplinary hearing that he did not attend.

Fazekas’s gold medal was taken away after he refused to provide a complete urine sample in his post-competition drug test.

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