Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe has been found innocent of blood doping by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and UK Anti-Doping agency (UKAD).

Paula Radcliffe

Paula Radcliffe

Radcliffe was implicated in a possible doping scandal when the Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD/WDR published allegations of suspected doping earlier this year, having obtained the results of 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes taken between 2001 and 2012.

The three-time London Marathon winner had denied any form of cheating at the time of her implication by a parliamentary hearing.

"I categorically deny that I have resorted to cheating in any form whatsoever at any time in my career, and am devastated that my name has even been linked to these wide-ranging accusations," the 41-year-old had said in a statement.

World athletics' governing body defended Radcliffe and rebutted claims it had ignored evidence of cheating in a statement issued on Friday. The IAAF stated that Radcliffe had been "accused of blood doping based on the gross misinterpretation of raw and incomplete data".

It said it could not "sit idly by while public confidence in its willingness to protect the integrity of its sport is undermined by allegations of inaction or incompetence that are based on bad scientific and legal argument".

"This case is a good example, then, of how dangerous it is to insinuate that an athlete has doped based simply on raw and incomplete data in the leaked database," concluded the IAAF.