"I have no intention of taking this lying down and I have no intention of being bullied by any organisation, national or international or any media interests, national or international. I am innocent of these charges. I am appalled at the manner in which they have been leaked into the public domain and I intend fully defending them, if necessary, all the way to the International Sports Court in Switzerland."

Of course, the whispers had begun years earlier. Many were suspicious of how a perennial also-ran on the international scene could blossom into the swimming machine that annexed three golds and a bronze at the Atlanta Olympics. But the few Irish journalists that raised their heads above the parapet to question the reality of her achievements were castigated by the public and the rest of the media as begrudgers, as they jealously guarded their golden girl's image and innocence.

She claimed her rapid ascent was down to an improved training regime. Her detractors claimed it may have had more to do with her husband, the discus thrower Erik de Bruin, who had served a four-year suspension during his career after testing positive for illegal levels of testosterone.

All the hearsay became irrelevant after Al and Kay Guy visited De Bruin's house on January 10, 1998. The testers noted in their report upon leaving the house that the sample given smelled of alcohol. De Bruin was eventually found guilty of introducing the alcohol to render the sample useless, a charge that was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It was later revealed that traces of the banned substance androstenedione, which promotes testosterone growth, were also found.

And yet many people in this country still find it difficult to acknowledge De Bruin as a cheat.

As recently as 2005, Marian Finucane's RTE radio show ran a poll to find Ireland's greatest woman, and De Bruin finished third on the list, only bested by Nano Nagle and former President Mary Robinson.