Sydney - Drug scandals won't prevent Australia's cycling sprint team from winning a medal at next month's Athens Olympics, reinstated Olympian Ben Kersten said on Saturday.
Kersten, who has joined up with the Australian team in its German training camp, admitted Australian cycling's reputation had been tainted by drug allegations, but insisted the sprint squad was clean.
The 22-year-old sprint cyclist was on Friday restored to the team in place of disgraced Jobie Dajka, who admitted to lying to a drug inquiry when he said he had not self-injected in the room of former teammate Mark French at the Australian Institute of Sport's training facility in Adelaide.
It was the latest twist in a tumultuous chain of events which have included allegations levelled against former world champion Sean Eadie and created doubts over whether Australia's sprint cycling programme was drug free.
Kersten said while Australia's sprint team missed out on a medal at the world track championship in Melbourne last May, it would definitely win an Olympic medal, possibly gold, with him in the team.
"We can achieve a gold medal - if all this sort of stuff stops... and they pick a team and we settle for that," Kersten told reporters.
"We are definitely capable of a gold medal, it would be very unlikely to be outside the top three."
Asked if he thought Australia's cycling programme had been stained by the drug allegations, Kersten said: "It would be foolish not to think so.
"But it's unfortunate that a few people's actions, or maybe one person in the end, have tainted the whole of the team and we are going to have to live with that." - Sapa-AFP