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Christine Ohuruogu wins 400m

Britain's Christine Ohuruogu celebrates winning the women's 400m at the 11th IAAF World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, on Wednesday. PHOTO: AFP

Controversial athlete Christine Ohuruogu hit back at her critics after returning from a drugs ban to win Britain's first ever women's world 400m title.

Ohuruogu, who completed her one-year ban for missing dope tests only this month, led a surprise British one-two in the event ahead of Nicola Sanders and Jamaica's Novlene Williams.

The Commonwealth champion, 23, said she could have the last laugh after answering a barrage of negative coverage in the British press with a personal best of 49.61 seconds.

"Just because people write it doesn't necessarily mean they know what they're talking about. They don't see you working every day, they don't see what you put yourself through," she said.

"People can write what they like but I know what I do and I know the goals I set myself. I can walk off the track with my head held high because I know how hard I've worked for this, despite whatever anyone else has said," Ohuruogu said.

Ohuruogu was suspended last August for missing three out-of-competition dope tests.

But she said the setback and "negativity" only made her more determined to win Britain's first women's world track gold since Sally Gunnell's 400m hurdles in 1993.

"I like being challenged, that's reflected in my race. I really like to push myself. All the negativity has done nothing but just spurred me on," she said. "It's nice to say to people, `You got it wrong, ha, ha, ha.'"

Ohuruogu hails from Stratford in east London, site of the 2012 Olympics, and was a poster girl for the project until the doping controversy.

Reports said British officials were likely to rescind her automatic Olympics ban ahead of next year's Beijing Games.

Ohuruogu welled up on the finish line after catching Williams, the front-runner and pre-race favorite, at the death.

"Never in my wildest dreams could I have thought of coming back after my ban as a world champion," said the emotional Ohuruogu, her voice breaking.

"On the finish line I said: `Was it me?' It is unbelievable. The title does not mean so much to me, I am just pleased that I ran so fast," she said.

Later Ohuruogu said she considered dropping out of athletics altogether.

"I'm very pleased and I'm very proud that despite everything that happened I managed to keep my head down," she said. "I had so many things against me this time last year I didn't know if I was going to continue training."

The victory sparked debate in the British press.

"How fast do you have to go if you want to outrun your past?" the Times asked in a column.

The Sun was harsher, declaring in a headline: "Please don't make this the face of our London Olympics."

On the other side was the Guardian, whose columnist wrote that he wanted "to see the British Olympic Association accept her appeal against a mandatory lifetime ban."
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