The gossamer-thin credibility of elite sprinting was stretched to breaking point after Maurice Greene, a double Olympic gold medal-winner and outspoken advocate of life bans for dopers, was accused of cheating. For a sport blighted by a timeline of frauds and liars, it would prove a death knell if the allegations levelled at him in the US are proved to have any substance.

Greene, who retired in February, has an acronym to signify the “Greatest Of All Time” on his right bicep. Now Angel Guillermo Heredia, a witness in the case against Trevor Graham, the coach charged with making false statements to federal investigators, is reportedly ready to give up the “GOAT”.

While some will judge Heredia as a discredited figure who has cut a deal to save himself from criminal proceedings, the evidence he has provided to the authorities is apparently farreaching and damning. According to The New York Times, Heredia has named 12 dopers with a combined total of 26 Olympic and 21 World Championship medals. Four of those have been named and banned already, but eight have never been previously linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Foremost among them is Greene.

The case against Graham could blow the whistle on the scale of doping in sprinting. Graham is the coach whose stable included disgraced athletes such as Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery. His trial for perjury, the offence that ultimately jailed Jones, is due to begin next month, but the mud-slinging between lawyers has already started. Heredia claims he supplied drugs and advice on their use to Graham, while Graham’s team are ready to expose high-profile athletes who were Heredia’s clients in an effort to discredit him. The charges against Graham are all linked to statements he made about Heredia, including the denial that he ever received drugs from him.

The New York Times claims it has seen documents and e-mails from Heredia that provide proof of doping regimens. Heredia reportedly had access to athletes’ medical records and received an e-mail from a world indoor champion asking for growth hormone — “Send me some GH to my house. I am running Zurick (sic).” Significantly, he also claims that he received $40,000 from Greene for a variety of illegal substances in 2003 and 2004.

Greene has never failed a drugs test and has never been previously implicated in doping. However, whatever their veracity, the mere fact that the allegations have been made further taints the image of a sport that is facing a crisis of public confidence.

Like Jones, Greene is one of the most celebrated athletes of his generation. He won the 100 metres at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and claimed a second gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay there. He also dominated the 100 metres at the World Championships, winning in 1997, 1999 and 2001. Although the 100 metres is the pinnacle of the Olympics, the event has become a victim of a twisted ambition, with three of the past five champions testing positive at some point in their careers.

Greene, 33, has always been happy to stand in the front line of the fight against drugs. He is an ambassador for the International Association of Athletics Federations and, at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia last month, reiterated his stance on life bans. He was equally unequivocal in 2005 when he said in an interview that he ran “to show everyone that you can do this clean and with just God-given talent”. A year earlier he said: “There is no room in our sport for drug cheaters whatsoever. I think it should be a life ban if you get caught, even once.”

The state of modern sprinting is such that Jones is in prison, Dwain Chambers is considering a legal challenge to his Olympic exile and Gatlin wants the Court of Arbitration for Sport to free him from the ban he received in 2006 so he can defend his Olympic title. As the legal teams in the Graham case prepare for a court-room drama, it seems certain that there will be more blood on the track.

Shamed sprinters

Ben Johnson Stripped of his gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul after winning the race in world-record time of 9.79sec. Banned for life in 1993 after second drugs offence.

Linford Christie Took gold in Barcelona in 1992, but failed a drugs test while in semi-retirement in 1999. Now a UK Athletics coach.

Justin Gatlin The Olympic champion in 2004 and double world champion in 2005 tested positive in 2006. Originally banned for eight years, reduced to four, his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport will begin on May 28.

Tim Montgomery Set a world record of 9.78sec in 2002, but banned in 2005 after he was implicated in the Balco affair.

Marion Jones Five medals in Sydney in 2000, she is now serving a prison term for perjury after admitting to taking drugs.

Dwain Chambers Served a two-year ban for taking tetrahydrogestrinone, won silver at the World Indoor Championships last month, now trying to become a rugby league player.