BEIJING, Nov. 8(AP) -- A leading Chinese distance runner and hopeful for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sun Yingjie, has failed a second drug test and now faces a likely two-year ban, the Chinese Olympic Committee announced.

Sun failed the first test following her second-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the National Games last month.

The result of the second urine test, submitted on Friday, was identical, testing positive for the banned testosterone derivative androsterone, the Chinese Olympic Committee said in a statement posted on its Web site Monday.

China's Athletics Association will hold hearings on the case, and Sun, who was already suspended from competition following last month's failed test, could be barred for two years, the government's Xinhua News Agency reported late Monday.

Sun is the highest-profile competitor among the approximately 30 Chinese athletes to fail doping tests this year.

She was stripped of her silver medal in the 10,000 following the failed test on Oct. 17. But she was allowed to keep her gold medal for the marathon. A urine sample submitted for that race tested negative for banned substances.

Doping was rampant in Chinese sports in the 1990s, and a string of scandals in international competitions ensued. But the government has tried to end the practice, launching a crackdown against the use of banned substances.