Modahl will not be compensated

Diane Modahl's five-year campaign to win £1m in compensation following her overturned drugs ban ended in failure yesterday. The former Commonwealth 800 metres champion finally accepted defeat following the Court of Appeal's ruling that the disciplinary committee that had originally imposed her four-year ban in 1994 had not been biased against her.

Modahl, 35, had a previous compensation case turned down in the High Court 10 months ago. Although she has talked in the past of pressing her claim at the European Court of Human Rights, Modahl said yesterday: "I do not intend to appeal further and now I can concentrate on my other activities."

Modahl was sent back from Canada on the eve of the 1994 Commonwealth Games after a drug test indicated illegal levels of the male hormone testosterone in her sample. She was suspended for four years by the BAF, which has since been superseded by UK Athletics, but was subsequently cleared on appeal when it was shown that the international authorities had mishandled her sample.