NEWPORT sprinter Christian Malcolm has called for more stringent drugs testing in athletics.

Speaking as the World Championships in Edmonton drew to a close last night, the 22-year-old said the International Amateur Athletics Federation should step up their drug-testing, especially in the light of the drugs controversy surrounding Russian 5000m runner Olga Yegorova.

Currently the IAAF test all the finalists at the world championships, while randomly testing athletes during the heats.

But the Maindee runner thinks athletics' governing body should test every competitor for performance-enhancing drugs.

Malcolm, who is due to fly home today, said: "I think everyone should be drugs-tested. "At the Olympic games everyone got doped at least once or twice before Sydney.

"Here they dope the finalists and do random testing in the heats, I know Iwan (Thomas) was tested after his second 400m heat."

Controversy has surrounded Yegorova after her urine sample tested positive for EPO (synthetic erythropoietin) after a race in Paris, but because a crucial blood sample was not taken, she was cleared by the IAAF.

Her arch rival Romanian Gabriella Szabo threatened to withdraw from the games if the Russian was allowed to run, although she later relented, and Britain's 10,000m runner Paula Radcliffe made her protest felt in Thursday's heats when she held up a banner with 'EPO CHEATS OUT' at the Commonwealth Stadium.

While Malcolm insists all runners should be considered innocent before proven guilty, he added that if Yegorova is using EPO, tougher testing will catch her.

With Britain's Mark Richardson cleared this season of taking the banned substance Nandrolene, Malcolm feels it is important to give athletes the benefit of the doubt. "You have to look at it both ways, what if her (Yegorova) 'B' sample had come up negative?," he said.

"A lot of athletes have had their names tarnished for things that have been accidents. "I am quick to defend British athletes, because I am pretty sure none of them have done anything wrong.

"Look at Mark Richardson, he is now cleared but his name is tarnished and he is still judged by that, but hopefully in a few years it will be forgotten."