Reinstated drug cheats cast shadows

But his defeat at the Jamaican selection trials this week has raised the spectre of all three mens sprint titles falling to reinstated drug cheats at the London Olympic Games.

Yohan Blake's upset victories over defending Olympic champion Bolt in the 100m and 200m Jamaican trials this week has focussed the spotlight on him, and his chequered past.

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Blake, 22, clocked a personal best (and quickest time of the year), running 9.75sec (tailwind 1.1m/s) in beating Bolt (9.86) and Asafa Powell (9.88) and Michael Fraster (9.94) in the 100m race.

It suggests Jamaica could set a world record in the 4x100m relay at the Games.

A couple of days later Blake confirmed his superiority by winning the 200m trial, again clocking the best time of the year of 19.80 (headwind 0.5m/s) from Bolt who ran second in 19.83.

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In Brussels last year, Blake won the 200m in 19.26sec, second in history only to Bolt.

All good news for a sport often ignored unless records are tumbling.

But Blake's success brings with it a certain doubt ever since he failed a drug test for a stimulant, along with four others, at the 2009 Jamaican trials.

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Reinstated drug cheats cast shadows