'I won't run for fun any more': Christine Ohuruogu gets serious as she gears up for London 2012

By LAURA WILLIAMSON Last updated at 1:38 AM on 04th December 2009

Christine Ohuruogu sits back in her chair and grins broadly when asked if she has any sympathy for England footballers who might struggle to come to terms with the proposed 'whereabouts' rule for random drug testing.

The FA have nominated 10 to 20 internationals who will have to let UK Anti-Doping authorities know where they are for an hour a day, every day, and could be subjected to a one-year ban if they miss three tests.

'I have to say for athletes, as individuals, it is probably a lot harder to enforce for us,' she said.

First-class: Ohuruogu is the reigning Olympic and Commonwealth 400m champion

'We just have one coach and one day we train here, one day we train there. It's a lot harder for us. Everything is so fluid.

'UK Athletics is trying hard to make sure athletes don't fall foul of the rules. We get texts every week, reminding us.

'But I think if we have to deal with it then, I'm sorry, the rest of the world's sporting bodies have to as well. Footballers are in a team, they're going to be at the training ground, say on a Tuesday between 7am and 10am.

'They're no different to the rest of us. They might be getting paid a lot more money but we have to deal with the same things.'

Ohuruogu speaks from experience. She began a one-year suspension in August 2006 for failing to show up at three spot-checks and was banned from representing Great Britain at the Olympic Games.

It was a devastating blow for the reigning Commonwealth 400metres champion, an athlete who grew up as one of eight children less than a mile from the Olympic Park in Stratford, a linguistics graduate of University College, London, and a runner tipped to be the face of the 2012 Games.