Friday 27 November 2015 15:38, UK
World athletics' governing body has cleared Paula Radcliffe of allegations of doping.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) described claims that it failed to act on evidence of cheating for more than a decade as based on "inaccurate and unfounded scientific and legal argument".
In a detailed rebuttal of allegations that it failed to follow up hundreds of suspicious blood tests, the IAAF emphatically backs Radcliffe.
It concluded there is "no basis whatsoever for the insinuations made against her" following reports that a high-profile British athlete was among those who had provided "suspicious" blood tests.
The IAAF verdict is contained in its response to a Culture, Media And Sport select committee hearing in September, at which MPs examined doping allegations first aired by German broadcaster ARD and the Sunday Times.
An IAAF statement said: "She (Radcliffe) has been publicly accused of blood doping based on the gross misinterpretation of raw and incomplete data. When all of the necessary information is considered, however (as the WADA ABP protocols require), there are clearly plausible explanations for the values in her profile that are entirely innocent.
"For example, in two of the cases highlighted by The Sunday Times, the samples were collected immediately after competition (when dehydration causes a decrease in plasma concentration, and so an increase in reported haemoglobin concentration, even though there has been no increase in red blood cells).
"Any competent scientist would therefore immediately conclude that they should be disregarded. Furthermore, the IAAF followed up by testing Ms Radcliffe's urine samples for rEPO, and her blood samples for evidence of blood transfusions, and all of those tests came back negative."
Lord Coe, president of the IAAF, is due to give evidence to the committee next week.
The journalists obtained a database of athletes' blood tests covering an 11-year period. It was examined by two retained blood doping experts, who concluded it contained hundreds of suspicious results that the authorities should have acted on.
Radcliffe was not named by the Sunday Times or ARD, but she was forced to admit she was the "high-profile British athlete" referred to in reports after effectively being linked to the allegations by CMS committee chairman Jesse Norman.
The IAAF says Radcliffe was "hounded remorselessly" by the media, describes her treatment as "truly shocking", and says there are no grounds to suspect her of cheating.
The allegations were based on a database of blood values collected by the IAAF to try and identify the use of drugs or blood transfusions to boost an athlete's red blood cell count.
The database includes 14 blood samples given by Radcliffe, three of which were reported to show values outside "normal" parameters under current rules, and therefore "suspicious".
In September Radcliffe told Sky News that all three results could be explained by factors acknowledged to have an impact on tests.
These include taking blood samples within two hours of strenuous exercise, a practice now ruled unsafe by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and recent altitude training, both of which can contribute to misleading results and "false positives".
The IAAF backs Radcliffe, dismissing the case against each test in turn, stressing that on each occasion she was target-tested by the IAAF and returned negative urine samples.
The IAAF conclude: "This case is a good example, then, of how dangerous it is to insinuate that an athlete has doped based simply on raw and incomplete data in the leaked database.
"Ms Radcliffe should never have been forced to come out and defend herself against such insinuations."
Radcliffe told Sky News she welcomed the report: "I'm glad the IAAF have been able to put it down in writing and to have it brought out.
"In the climate of things maybe people think it's not important right now, but it's important to me and the attacks made on my integrity and my credibility."
Addressing the wider allegations the report concludes: "The IAAF is far from complacent about the problem of blood doping in its sport… but [it] cannot sit idly by while public confidence in its willingness to protect the integrity of its sport is undermined by allegations of inaction are based on inaccurate and unfounded scientific and legal argument."
The IAAF response comes as it tries to claw back credibility following a series of hugely damaging episodes.
In the last three weeks an independent report into earlier doping allegations confirmed systematic, state-sponsored doping in Russia, and former IAAF President Lamine Diack is under criminal investigation in France for allegedly accepting bribes to cover up doping.
This week Lord Coe was forced to give up a £100,000 a-year ambassadorial role with Nike following suggestions that his links to the company represented a conflict of interests.
