Justin Gatlin had the disgraced figure of Ben Johnson in his corner and the agent of his only serious rival calling for a life ban as the dust began to settle on yet another drugs scandal in athletics.

Johnson, who was stripped of his gold medal for the 100metres at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, offered the risible theory that athletics fans want speed at all costs - even if it means athletes are doped up before hitting the track.

But that was discredited at a stroke by Asafa Powell's agent, Paul Doyle, who called for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to combat the cheats by introducing automatic life suspensions for any athlete failing just one test.

"If this positive A sample is confirmed then he should be banned. I think that anybody who tests positive and is convicted of taking drugs should be banned for life - even one offence," said Doyle.

He now expects the finger of suspicion to be pointed at Powell, but Doyle remains confident in his client's incorruptibility.

"The number one person they are going to assume (is using drugs) is going to be Asafa Powell, because he's the fastest man," said Doyle.

"Asafa Powell is a clean athlete. He does not take drugs."

Gatlin, the world and Olympic 100m champion who shares the world record of 9.77 seconds with Powell, will appear before a United States Anti-Doping Agency hearing after failing a drugs test for testosterone.

The 24-year-old also failed a test in 2001, when amphetamines from a prescribed medicine resulted in a two-year suspension, albeit one which was reduced on appeal.

But his history means a second offence will result in Gatlin's career grinding to a permanent halt, just as Johnson's did in 1993 after another failed test.

Add in the Balco affair, which resulted in bans for Tim Montgomery, Dwain Chambers, Kelli White and Chryste Gaines, and sprinting has seen its reputation greatly tarnished.

"The spectators don't care," said Canadian Johnson, now 44, who ran 9.79secs in Seoul. "The sponsors probably don't care ... all they want to see is the world's fastest man.

"That's the way life is, and people have to come to terms with that and live with it and just enjoy track and field."

Doyle debunked the claim, stating: "I think that's the way that people who are on drugs justify it.

"They say, 'Oh, people don't care.' Another thing they say is, 'Everybody's on drugs and I'm just trying to level the playing field.'

"Any time a positive drugs test comes out or an athlete gets banned it's a good thing in the long run. What it means is we're cleaning up the sport, we're taking a step in the right direction."

The IAAF president Lamine Diack revealed his "deep regret" at hearing news of Gatlin's failed test, which occurred after he competed in a relay event in Kansas on April 22.

And there was no triumphalism from Powell, who learned of the news only after it was reported last night.

"He was quite surprised and a little bit upset by the news," Doyle told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

"He had a lot of questions - 'What happened?', 'How did this come about?', 'How did I hear about it?'.

"He wanted to know all that. The first thing he wanted to know was, was it true?

"I don't know the details of his situation, only what's come to light in the last few hours."

Given that his latest failed test occurred in April, and Gatlin achieved his record-equalling run in May, he would also almost certainly have to forfeit that time of 9.77secs, which was set in Doha, should a B test correspond to the first sample.

That would leave Powell as the sole holder of the record as well as the man on whom sprinting's integrity perhaps rests.