WADA drug testing better, but still falls short

Prior to the 2008 Olympics, Heredia told Germany's Der Spiegel that, regarding the 100-meter final, 'the winner will not be clean. Not even any of the contestants will be clean. There is no doubt about it, the difference between 10.0 and 9.7 seconds is the drugs'.

We shall see what happens in 2015, especially since Bolt's best yearly times have declined since his world records during the 2009 world championships. Whereas Bolt ran 9.58 and 19.19 in 2009, his best times since January 2013 have been 9.77 and 19.66, which includes one world championship year.

However, what is needed now is greater transparency of all national and international testing by following the lead of USADA which discloses the number of tests for each athlete and sport for every quarter of the year. Perhaps this could be improved by disclosing dates and test results (such as T/E ratios and whereabouts attendance) to promote a perception that everything is above board.

But contrary to the cynical views of Conte and others, the ability of athletes to use testosterone without detection has become much harder in recent years, although one would be brave to rule out the capacity of some athletes to stay one step ahead of the testers.