Australia's Jarrod Bannister, pictured at the 2011 World Championships, has died aged 33 ©Getty Images

Jarrod Bannister, Australia's 2010 Commonwealth javelin champion, has died suddenly aged 33.

Bannister, who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, had been living and training in The Netherlands.

There are believed to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

In 2013, Bannister was controversially given a 20-month ban from competing after missing three anti-doping tests.

It meant he was unable to defend the title he won in Delhi at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Bannister maintained that he had not missed them deliberately.

He said in one instance testers had been given wrong information about his whereabouts.

Athletics Australia said it was "saddened and shocked".

"On behalf of Athletics Australia, I extend our deepest condolences to Jarrod's family and friends and urge the athletics fraternity to support each other at this difficult time," chief executive Darren Gocher said in a statement.

A number of athletes have posted tributes online, including Australia's world and former Olympic 100 metres hurdles champion Sally Pearson, who tweeted: "R.I.P Jarrod Bannister. 

"A talented athlete with so much more to give. 

"You will be missed."

Bannister's personal best of 89.02m, set in Brisbane in 2008, is the current Australian record and he finished sixth in the final of the Beijing Olympics in the same year.

He failed to qualify for the final at the London 2012 Games, reaching a best of 77.38m.

Bannister was also seventh in the 2011 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

He made his breakthrough in 2000 by winning the Oceania Youth Championships with 66.15m, and finished fourth at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica two years later.