Aussie shooter given drugs let-off

The Commonwealth Games was rocked by another drugs controversy today after it was revealed Australian shooter Phillip Adams will be allowed to go for his eighth gold medal even though he has tested positive for a banned substance.

As the Games got under way with the start of the diving competition this morning and Manchester prepared itself for tonight's glitzy opening ceremony in the new £110 million City of Manchester Stadium, Australian team officials were defending their decision not to send Adams home.

The 56-year-old, who has won a remarkable 17 Commonwealth medals and is competing at his sixth Games, tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide in Australia on 25 June.

He was let off following a disciplinary hearing yesterday in which he told officials the substance was contained in medicine given to him by his doctor to treat high blood pressure.

Team Australia chiefs decided the drug, used by some athletes to mask steroids and other substances, would not boost his performance.

But had Adams tested positive before an Olympics he wouldn't have been able to compete as the rules are more stringent.