History shows the dark side of life after a positive test

How Greg Rusedski's career would be affected should he be suspended following his positive test for nandrolone remains in the realms of the hypothetical. What can be said is that the many sportsmen and women who have been punished for testing positive to the drug have found it impossible to regain their previous level of performance upon their return.

How Greg Rusedski's career would be affected should he be suspended following his positive test for nandrolone remains in the realms of the hypothetical. What can be said is that the many sportsmen and women who have been punished for testing positive to the drug have found it impossible to regain their previous level of performance upon their return.

The spate of positive tests for nandrolone returned by British athletes in the late 1990s saw bans administered to international competitors including the 1992 Olympic 100m champion Linford Christie, 1998 European 200m champion Dougie Walker, European Cup 400m winner Mark Richardson and 400m hurdler Gary Cadogan.

Of these, Richardson earned an early return to action after it was scientifically proved that the nutritional supplements he had taken were contaminated with traces of the banned steroid. But by then he had missed the 2000 Olympics and he failed to recapture the form that saw him come within 0.01sec of the British record in 1998 as he inflicted a rare defeat upon the US world record holder Michael Johnson. Following a sequence of injuries, the Windsor athlete was forced to announce his retirement before Christmas.

But two-year bans - the automatic penalty for any track and field athlete testing positive for steroids - effectively ended the international careers of both Cadogan and Walker, although the latter still competes indoors and on grass in Scotland.

The record of footballers who have tested positive for nandrolone offers Rusedski more hope should he be found guilty at his hearing in Montreal next month. The former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam returned to action with Lazio and the Netherlands after serving a five-month ban. His international team-mates Edgar Davids and Frank de Boer also returned after similar bans, as did Portugal's Fernando Couto.