EDMONTON (CP) -- An Alberta hammer-thrower has lost her appeal of her suspension from Canada's Olympic team for testing positive for an anabolic steroid.

 A doping review panel from the Canadian Centre for Ethics told Robin Lyons of its decision Friday.

 "The doping control review board released its decision dismissing Robin's protest," said her lawyer Thomas Cooke.

 Lyons, 23, of Edmonton, will appeal to an independent arbitrator, Cooke said.

 A meeting with the arbitrator, who was not named, could be as early as Saturday, said Cooke, who added everyone involved is aware of the pressing time concerns in the case.

 The Olympics begin next Friday in Sydney and preliminaries for the hammer-throw event begin Sept. 26.

 Canadian doping regulations prohibit any information about the appeal process being released to the public until the appeal is completed.

 Lyons was not present at the news conference announcing the decision.

 "She's not feeling 100 per cent right now," said Cooke. "She's kind of disappointed and she wants to spend some time with herself right now and (with) her dad."

 Cooke would not say what his client will do if she loses the appeal to the independent arbitrator.

 "We aren't in a position to discuss the next step. Our main focus is on our appeal."

 He said he did not think any further drug tests would be involved.

 Lyons tested positive for norandrosterone, a metabolite of nandrolone, at the Canadian Olympic trials in August, the ethics centre revealed last Tuesday.

 She has denied taking any steroids and said she was a victim.

 "This isn't right. I'm getting my dreams of Olympics taken away from me for something I haven't done ... I'm not Ben Johnson. I'm not taking steroids," she said at the time..

 Lyons is the Canadian national champion in the hammer-throw event and holds the current national record. This was her first positive drug test.

 Olympic equestrian team member Eric Lamaze also learned his fate Friday. The 32-year-old, one of Canada's top show jumpers, was banned for life from competition after being kicked off the team for testing positive for cocaine in a random drug test Aug. 29.

 Anabolic steroids enhance an athlete's performance.

 One of Lyons's samples showed a level of nine nanograms of norandrosterone per millilitre of urine. More than five nanograms is considered illegal.

 Norandrosterone occurs naturally in the body but at a level around 0.5.

 Norandrosterone does not occur naturally in foods but can be found in nutritional supplements.

 Athletes submit a form when testing for banned substances. Lyons hadn't indicated she was taking a nutritional supplement.

 Lyons set a meet record in women's hammer-throw with a toss of 62.70 metres on Aug. 13. She and Athletics Canada were notified Aug. 29 of her positive drug test.

 Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale, an expert on sports and drugs, has said the precise amount of norandrosterone described as a "normal amount" in humans has not been officially determined by scientific study.

 Canada was shamed when sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal at the 1988 Olympics for using stanozolol.

 Last summer at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada's roller hockey team was stripped of a gold medal when player Steve Vezina tested positive for nandrolone.

 At the 1995 Pan-Am Games, rower Silken Laumann tested positive for a banned stimulant after taking an over-the-counter cold remedy.