The bombshell Australian Crime Commission inquiry, which said use of prohibited substances including peptides, hormones and illicit drugs was common across multiple sporting codes, has sent shockwaves through Australia.

“Blackest day in sport”, ran the Sydney Morning Herald headline while the tabloid Sydney Daily Telegraph screamed: “Sport on Trial.” The broadsheet Australian newspaper said doping threatened the sporting culture of a nation that has long had a reputation as being predominantly drugs-free.