The fight against drugs in sport

Suspicion will hover over the Games until a robust HGH test is found

One of the world's leading experts on drugs in sport believes athletes will be able to cheat without detection at next year's Beijing Olympics.

Peter Sönksen claims the test for human growth hormone (HGH) is useless and will only catch "a stupid athlete".

"The test we have is imperfect and it's probable that an awful lot of people who appear to be negative are in fact doping," the professor said.

"Until we have a more effective test, you can't believe what you're seeing."

Sönksen, an emeritus professor of endocrinology at St Thomas' Hospital in London and a visiting professor at Southampton University, has studied HGH for over 40 years and during that time has advised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the UK authorities on the issue of doping.