What the papers said about... Diane Modahl

"The verdict the sport doesn't want to believe." Guardian

"The unanimous conclusion of a five-strong panel, including three former athletes, constitutes a damning verdict on the former Commonwealth Games 800 metres champion." Independent

"So many people wanted to believe a bewildered young woman yet mere words, as Modahl and her legal representative are fully aware, can no longer be taken as sole proof of innocence." London Evening Standard

"If little Miss Innocent is doing drugs, who isn't?" Today

"This was not just another mighty thrower. We have come to expect it of them. This was a British woman runner who, to all outward appearances, could have been the girl next door." Mail "Just hours after being dumped on the scrapheap by Britain's athletics bosses, Modahl still insisted she had never taken drugs in her life." Star

"The verdict will cast a huge shadow over British athletics. It will almost certainly question the validity of the evidence given by the BAF recently that over 99.55 per cent of British athletes were clean." Telegraph

"The conviction of an athlete perceived by most people in the sport to have been a model of decency and fair play will deepen suspicion that drug-taking among British athletes penetrates deeper than might have been imagined." Times

"It was like being told Mary Poppins has gone out on the game." Today

"Now the famed five Olympic rings serve only to circle our names in shame." Mirror