BBC SPORT | Special Events | 2000 | Drugs in Sport

Positive drug tests by British athletes have hit the headlines on several occasions in recent years.

Even before the nandolone cases involving Linford Christie, Doug Walker, Gary Cadogan and Mark Richardson there were many others where innocence was insisted upon, and sometimes proved.

Diane Modahl was tested positive for testosterone by a laboratory in Lisbon back in 1992.

She was subsequently banned for four years, but had the suspension lifted after a lengthy legal fight to clear her name ended with the Lisbon testing facilities being declared inadequate.

That was back in 1996, and the athlete has been competing since that date, winning bronze in the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

However Modahl's legal battle to claim damages from the former governing body, the British Athletics Federation (BAF), has yet to be resolved.

The situation has been complicated by the BAF going into administration, mainly as a result of costs incurred in the Modahl case.

The High Court is set to finally hear the athlete's claim for �800,000 compensation in November 2000.

Sprinter Jason Livingston
Jason Livingston: Back on the track
Other British athletes to have had run-ins with the drug testers include sprinter Jason Livingston, who served a four-year ban after testing positive for steroids, the case breaking during the 1992 Olympics.

Shot-putter Paul Edwards received a similar suspension in 1994 after failing two separate tests. He returned to competition but failed another test last year and was banned for life.

Solomon Wariso, then British 200 metres champion, tested positive for ephedrine in 1994 and was suspended for three months. He protested his innocence and said he had taken a herbal remedy called 'Up Your Gas'.

The same year saw javelin thrower Colin Mackenzie given a three-month ban after failing a test. He insisted he had taken a pain-killer containing a banned substance.


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