This week Ludmilla Engquist, an Olympic gold-medal hurdler in 1996 and still part of Sweden's potential Olympic bobsleigh team, confessed to taking anabolic steroids.

ECONOMIST: Or so they used to say

Indeed: as a competitor for Russia in the early 1990s, Mrs Engquist was given a ban for four years (later rescinded) for using, yes, anabolic steroids.

ECONOMIST: Or so they used to say

Athletics officials were quick with an excuse: Mrs Engquist was a Russian till she married a Swede and was fast-tracked into citizenship just in time for Atlanta.

ECONOMIST: Or so they used to say

They are deadly serious about sport, and Mrs Engquist was vastly popular: not just the only Swedish woman to win an Olympic gold on the track, but heroine of a brave and successful fight against breast cancer two years ago.

ECONOMIST: Or so they used to say