Elliot condemns drug cheats

Watch the full interview in BBC World's Extratime on Thursday

Australian Olympic hero Herb Elliot believes that any athlete found guilty of taking drugs should be jailed.

Elliot, who won 1500m gold at the 1960 Games, was known for his ruthless approach to athletics.

But he told BBC's HARDtalk: "I despise drug takers and I don't understand why they are not put in jail.

"I would not allow them on the sporting field ever again, whether their offence is inadvertent or not. They wreck what sport is all about."

Athletics has changed dramatically since Elliot dominated his field in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The Australian was undefeated in 44 races from 1958 to 1960 and ran 17 sub-four-minute miles, setting three world records.

His Olympic victory in Rome saw him scatter a talented field to win by 20 metres in a world record time of 3min 35.6 sec.

He was famed for his single-minded approach in an era when medals and glory - and not money - were the only prizes.

"The money involved in the sport now does not worry me a bit. So be it, we have television and people want to watch so athletes should be paid," said Elliot.

Elliot remains an Australian Olympic hero

"But drug takers I despise.

"When you get on the track you train hard and what you want is to put your body, mind and intelligence against the other person.

"You don't want this drug cheat to go and steal money from people."

Yet Elliot, who was an adviser to the Australian Olympic team at Sydney 2000, does not believe the 2004 Games will be littered with drug cheats.

"I don't think there are many in the sport," Elliot said.

He added: "The people who say there are are the people who have been caught and that's a self-justification process they go through."

Elliot, despite his supreme success, never enjoyed running and retired from athletics at the age of 22.

And he claims that pre-race nerves often used to threaten to wreck his chances of victory.

"If you woke up in the middle of the night feeling like you do at the start of a big race then you would call an ambulance," he told HARDtalk.