Michael Johnson: 'Athletics will never be a drug-free sport'

Four-time Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson believes that athletics will never be rid of drug cheats.

The sport has been plagued by a number of high-profile doping issues, and while there are strict testing rules within athletics, Johnson believes that some athletes will always try to cheat.

"Athletics has a zero-tolerance policy with drugs and, in a way, we have kind of suffered because of that," Johnson said at a Doha GOALS Forum. "Since we control it more than most sports, we have more scandals and more people caught.

"Despite that, you are never going to have a situation where no-one cheats. Athletics is a microcosm of real life and in real life you will always have people who cheat. It's unrealistic to expect athletics to be a drug free sport."

Johnson was joined by British double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes and former Olympic, European and Commonwealth champion triple jumper Jonathan Edwards at the event.