Yegorova runs the gauntlet

A dark afternoon in Edmonton on Saturday, and the world athletics championships went into the cold zone. If failed drug tests and athlete protests and booing inside the Commonwealth Stadium count for anything then Olga Yegorova is seen as a cheat. And a cheat had won.

Yegorova had blown away everyone in the women's 5,000 metres final and then ran straight off the track. There was time for a brief tear, and then moments of regaining her composure before facing the waiting media:

"I would not wish on anybody, even my enemies, to live through what I had to live through the last few days," she began.

"There were moments when I just thought I'd forget about it all, drop it all and go home. I was under a lot of strain and pressure here but I wanted to win here for myself. It was not about money or success because I already have everything."

Out on the track behind her echoes of disapproval competed with shouts of support for an exhausted Gabriela Szabo, who was trying to add to her 1,500 metre gold but could only manage eighth.

"For me she is not the world champion," said the Romanian. "I have no chance of competing against robots, but I ran to show I was not afraid of the Russian."

That strained faces of Szabo and all the others contrasted with the ice- cool Yegorova, who had sat breathless in the bunch before delivering a lightning kick from 200 metres out. It was just like the Paris meeting last month, after which the testers discovered the magical erythropoietin - better known as EPO - was helping give Yegorova that extra gear.

Had the IAAF been serious about cleaning up their sport, Yegorova would have watched this race in Russia. But because Paris had skipped the double-checking, she was world champion and $60,000 richer. At 29, it was her first major outdoor title, adding to the world indoor title she won back in March.

Back in the mixed zone, the mixed reception continued. There were soft congratulations from the Russians and hard questions from the test of the world, yet Yegorova stared everyone down and didn't even flinch.

"Ah, it's just a piece if metal." That's what the tainted medal meant to her. "If you want, I can just give it to you. Winning the world championships is not as important as life. Sport is one thing but life goes on."

By now the Russian media were working overtime as interpreters, relaying every word from the remarkably composed athlete.

"I wouldn't say the gold medal is what you'd call the stuff of dreams. A healthy baby is the stuff of dreams. That's what's important to me. It's nice, of course, to win, don't get me wrong, but it's not what life is all about."

What then about the booing, or the protests from Paula Radcliffe, or the claim from Szabo that Yegorova was not the true champion? The answers came with another shrug of the shoulders.

"I didn't know how the crowd was going to react. But what did you want me to do, finish second or third just to please the crowd? For me maybe 80 per cent was a distraction and 20 per cent gave me hope that everything would be fine.

"And I've nothing against the protest or whatever because that's their right. And I wish Paula Radcliffe her health and happiness. Maybe it's their personal choice but I do not consider myself guilty. You can't accuse one of something they have not done."

Later still, as the three medal winners sat in the formal press conference, the hard questions continued. Spain's Marta Dominguez and Ethiopia's Ayelech Worku, who took silver and bronze, were nothing more than a side show.

Why didn't we see a lap of honour? "I'm sorry, I forgot." How do you explain the positive test in Paris? "That's up to the doping the committee, I don't have the authority. Of course I condemn the use of drugs because it's not good for the health."

A lot of short answers then, yet she was happy to talk about her training, and how the harder work at altitude and increased mileage had helped improve her time over 5,000 metres by over 40 seconds last year. All observed solely by her coach and husband Nikolay Anisimov.

And though her fellow Russian athletes had offered support throughout the week, only one man, Valentin Balakhnichev, president of the federation, actually fought for her.

For Jos Hermens, manager of Szabo and many other leading athletes in Edmonton, the situation was sad but not without it's cause: "Athletics is still going through some growing pains. I hope we can win a few battles like this one but I don't know if we will ever win the war."