World sport's main arbitration body CAS on Thursday confirmed it had accepted an appeal by Colombian cyclist Maria Luisa Calle who tested positive for a banned substance at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

CAS said the track rider, who came third in the women's points competition to hand Colombia an historic Olympic medal in the sport but was then disqualified, can now keep her Olympic bronze medal.

Calle tested positive for a banned stimulant, heptaminol, which she said was contained in a medicine.

The 35-year-old had protested her innocence saying she had taken paracetamol for a headache but the pain remained and, after medical advice, was given a medicine called neosaldina by one of the team doctors.

The Colombian cycling federation did not sanction her for the offence, and her country's Olympic committee and the Colombian government appealed against the decision to strip her of the medal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

A first hearing was held on March 11 this year but a second hearing with new expert witnesses had to be called, and was held on August 25, when fresh proof came to light.

It was determined at the second hearing that the stimulant found in her urine sample had not been ingested directly.

Instead it was found that Calle had absorbed neo-saldina, which contains Isometheptene - which was not on the International Olympic Committee's 2004 banned list but which can transform into heptaminol.

Calle's medal was one of two won by Colombia at the 2004 Games. Calle's initial disqualification meant that American Erin Mirabella, who had finished fourth in the event, took the bronze. The medal will now be returned to Calle.