LONDON - OLYMPIC champion Christine Ohuruogu was named athlete of the year by the British Olympic Association on Saturday, a year after she overturned the organisation's ban for a doping violation.

The 24-year-old Londoner beat favorite Sanya Richards at August's Beijing Games to become Britain's first ever female Olympic gold medallist over 400 metres.

Ohuruogu was banned for 12 months after missing three out-of-competition doping tests from October 2005 to July 2006, and had to win a court battle to overturn her lifetime BOA ban.

UK Athletics had said she was guilty of a technical offense and welcomed her onto the Beijing team, but Ohuruogu's achievements have consistently been overshadowed.

She won the world championship in Osaka, Japan, in August 2007 barely weeks after returning to competition. -- AP