Darren Campbell: 'Justin Gatlin beating Usain Bolt may lead to change'

Former sprinter Darren Campbell has suggested that the "spotlight" would be on athletics should Justin Gatlin beat Usain Bolt at this month's World Championships.

Gatlin, who served a doping ban earlier in his career, has run faster than Bolt during 2015, leading to a highly-anticipated meeting in Beijing at the end of August.

However, while many are favouring Bolt to prevail, Campbell, a former 200m Olympic silver medallist, has insisted that he would not mind seeing Gatlin emerge victorious if it resulted in change in the sport.

The 41-year-old told BBC Radio 5 live: "The fairy tale is that Usain Bolt beats Justin Gatlin, but in a crazy kind of way, I want to see Justin Gatlin beat Usain Bolt because the sport will have to deal with it.

"The spotlight will be truly on the sport and the sport will have to make a decision. It's not a decision about throwing out Justin Gatlin, but about how do you (athletics) want to be perceived in the future?"

Last weekend, further controversy hit the sport when a newspaper report claimed that a third of all medals in endurance events between 2001 and 2012 were won by athletes who gave "suspicious" blood samples