The ongoing saga has granted a licence to pub bores to jam radio phone-ins, athletes past and present have been forced to declare their views –and while the High Court will deliver its verdict on the sprinter's future tomorrow, it's unlikely to draw a line under the affair.

However, while much of the recent talk of drugs in sport has focused on the full-time thorn in the side of the British Olympics Association, a much darker shadow could yet be cast over this summer's Games in
Beijing.

Ian Maynard, professor of sport psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, has worked with the BOA for the last 20 years, helping the country's sailing team and the likes of boxer Amir Khan and recently-retired diver Leon Taylor achieve their potential. However, as the GB team makes its final preparations, he fears that in some events, hopes of Olympic glory may have already been dashed.

"I don't want to be a total cynic, but I fear that in Beijing we will see a lot of athletes who no-one gave much of a chance to appearing on the podium," he says. "People say drug testing is more robust than it has ever been, but the truth is that the drug makers are still two years ahead of the analysts.

"They are coming up with different combinations of drugs which allow athletes to go under the radar, and it would be incredibly naive to say drugs won't play a part in next month's Olympics.

"There is a lot of pressure on China to do well, they have thrown a lot of money into training athletes, but sadly I think we have to accept that not everyone who walks away with a medal will be clean, and the real problem is that if the testers don't know what they are looking for, they could earn a permanent place in the record books."

Unlike previous Games, Prof Maynard won't be travelling out with the team to Beijing. However, having visited the host country for a pre-Olympic event, he knows that aside from the issue of drugs, outside obstacles may scupper British chances. Air pollution has already raised questions as to whether athletes will need to wear masks, and earlier this month a particularly aggressive form of green algae invaded 5,000 sq miles of sea in Qingdao Bay. More than 10,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians have been drafted in to clean up the area, but it continues to threaten what many believes is an already a problematic sailing venue.

"The amount of people the Government have managed to mobilise shows just how much the authorities want and need the Games to go without a hitch," says Prof Maynard. "However, even if they are successful there is an almost total lack of wind. Of course all the sailing teams will have to deal with the same set of circumstances, but without the wind the races will be more down to luck than skill."

Given the potentially difficult conditions, Prof Maynard believes that if the GB team equals its efforts in Sydney eight years ago and finishes 12th in the medal table, the Games will have been a success. For some, that won't be enough, but the seemingly constant under-achievement which long dogged British Olympians is, he says, a thing of the past, with the renewed focus kick-started by possibly the greatest loser of them all.

In 1988, Eddie the Eagle Edwards became the first and possibly last British competitor in the Winter Olympic ski jump. While tales of the former plasterer having to wear six pairs of socks just to
make his boots fit endeared him to the public, it made the BOA a laughing stock.

"A lot of people thought it was the best thing ever to happen at the Olympics, and he was championed as a glorious loser," says Prof Maynard. "But for British sport it was a total embarrassment. It forced them to move the goal posts and now we don't send anyone to the Olympics unless they have a real chance of winning a medal.

"It brought a much greater focus to the psychological side of being a winner, and for us the crucial period is now the two or three years before an Olympic Games, because if you haven't got all the skills in place from early on there's no way you can learn them in a couple of months.

"We use a lot of techniques based on imagery. We show athletes photographs of where they will be competing so they can visualise what it will be like when they're out there.

"A dive may only last 10 seconds whereas the sailing team can be out on the water all day, but the techniques we use to ensure they are focused are fundamentally the same. When athletes arrive at the Olympics it can feel like being in a goldfish bowl and the idea is to give them a sense of déjà vu when the event starts and to remove as many of the unknowns as possible.

"We don't want to remove all of their nerves, but we want to get the butterflies to fly in formation."

For some veterans, sports psychology is dismissed as little more than New Age nonsense, distracting athletes from the real business of getting out there and doing the job they've been paid for. Tales of dressing room meditation sessions haven't helped, and there is a constant battle to prove its worth.

"After each Games, the BOA asks the athletes what they found most helpful in terms of outside support and increasingly it is the presence of a sports psychologist," says Prof Maynard. "We have got nutrition pretty much sorted and in terms of physical strength all those competing tend to be on a par. Sports psychology only really began in the 1970s, so it's still a fairly young discipline, but having that mental edge can be the difference between being a medal winner and coming last.

"Athletics has changed a lot, but certainly in football you are always battling against those who say, 'Back in my day, we just put our boots on and got out on the pitch and did our job'. That's true, but they probably also had a pint before the match and that would be unthinkable today.

"The likes of Manchester United and Chelsea have realised how valuable sports psychology can be, but a lot of other clubs will still happily pay £10m for a player, while refusing to spend £20,000 employing a sports psychologist. Until they move into the 21st century, the rich clubs will continue to get richer and the poor will get poorer."

In five weeks' time, the Beijing Games will be over and as the countdown to London 2012 officially begins, Prof Maynard hopes home advantage will be a head start when it comes to coaching the potential medal winners.

"The first advantage is the host nation is allowed to enter more athletes into more events, so the law of averages suggests you should pick up more medals," he says. " However, the biggest advantage is being able to train in the actual venues where the events will take place.

"Vancouver is hosting the Winter Olympics in 2010 and the Canadian ice skaters and ice hockey players are already getting used to the stadiums while the rest of the world will only get in a week or so before. If we get the Olympic Stadium finished in good time, then our athletes will benefit enormously."

Sadly, when it comes to delivering building projects on time and within budget, Britain is more likely to walk away with a wooden spoon than a gold medal.



Professor Ian Maynard will be taking part in an Any Questions-style event on the Olympic Games. The panel will also include 1,500m silver medalist Peter Elliott, Leon Taylor, the Sheffield-based diver who came second at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and Paralympic table tennis star Sue Gilmore, from Barnsley, who is representing Britain in Beijing. Tickets for the event on July 21 at Sheffield Hallam University are free, but places should be reserved in advance by e-mailing events@shu.ac.uk or calling 0114 225 4957.