Radcliffe plays down drug fears

Paula Radcliffe today dismissed suggestions that athletics was in crisis after doping scandals overshadowed the recent world championships.

Radcliffe, who missed the Paris event because of injury, said she believed it was good that more athletes were being caught cheating with banned substances.

"I don't think athletics is in a rut. What we don't want is cover-ups and we need the testing so that people can believe in the sport and know that people are competing on a level playing field," she said at Nike Town last night.

"It may hurt in the short term but it is positive in the long run to show that the testing works and they are catching people." American double world sprint champion Kelli White and 400 metres champion Jerome Young were at the centre of drugs scandals during the championships.

It has also emerged this week that Kenyan middle-distance star Bernard Lagat made a late withdrawal from the Paris event because of a positive test.

Radcliffe returns to action on Sunday in the Nike 10 km race in Richmond Park, in her build-up to next year's Athens Olympics. It will be her first race since her recordbreaking London Marathon victory in April.

Given Britain's disappointing results in Paris, the Bedford athlete could be forgiven for feeling extra pressure as the country's main hope for an Olympic gold medal.

But Radcliffe said: "I don't think there is added pressure. You are more responsible to yourself to do yourself justice. I felt a little bit guilty not being in Paris. It was very hard. But I will be fired up a bit more."

Radcliffe has not decided yet whether she will compete in the track races or in the marathon in Athens. But she added: "It is looking more like the marathon but I won't make a decision until nearer the time. The Olympic marathon is going to be something special on the course where it began."