In the case of Christie, it is alleged that his sample registered amounts of nandrolone metabolites hundreds of times above natural levels, while with CJ Hunter, Marion Jones's ex-shot putting husband, the drug test findings showed thousands of times above the amounts you expect to find occurring naturally.

The latest research out of the Olympic-accredited laboratory in Cologne indicated that it was possible that the majority of positive tests for nandrolone registered by British athletes could have been due to their using food supplements that had been contaminated with the banned anabolic steroid or its related compounds. All that the accused athletes must do is provide some firm evidence that the supplements that they used were actually contaminated.

Such facts have been scarce. But then, the ebb and flow of information and misinformation about nandrolone over the past two years or so, has all been so much propaganda.

Because there have been more nandrolone positives by higher profile competitors in the past couple of years, the denials have been given greater coverage than the average positive nandrolone test on a Bulgarian weightlifter (and there have still been plenty of those). The publicity, has created a swirl of confusion and doubts, prompting special scientific studies to be launched, and costing the sports authorities thousands of pounds in legal fees.

In fact, there are three basic nandrolone myths:

NANDROLONE MYTH No.1:

"The last three years have seen an epidemic of nandrolone positives".

Wrong. Nandrolone has been with us since before anti-doping policy began, and has been consistently popular. It is just the form that the nandrolone is being sold in that seems to have changed.

As long ago as 1984, when there were only 21 positive drug tests at the Los Angeles Olympics, eight of the positives were for nandrolone. Nothing much has changed - and that's official.

"Contrary to popular opinion, there has not been a major change in the number of nandrolone cases recorded by the IAAF and its associated doping control agencies over the last decade," the world athletics governing body announced in a press release issued last year. The International Amateur Athletic Federation press release continued with the fact that there had been 70 positive cases for nandrolone in 1999. The release affirmed that there had been around the same number of nandrolone positives in 1996, 1997 and 1998 as well.