The Great Britain javelin star scaled the peaks during a 18-year career that took in appearances at World and European Championships, Commonwealth Games and Olympics.

But what should have been one of his greatest moments is forever tainted by the spectre of banned substances.

Returning home after a fourth place finish at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Horsforth-born Hill was informed the athlete ahead of him had tested positive for steroids.

"It meant that I got the bronze medal and everything else that goes with it; the money bonus from the shoe company and all the rest of it," he recalls wistfully.

"But that guy denied me the chance to stand on a rostrum. And that's priceless. You don't get that back.

"Everyone has an opinion on drugs in athletics. But if you train for years and years, putting yourself in hospital in the process, you don't tend to look favourably on people who cheat their way to success."

The controversy surrounding sprinter Dwain Chambers' return to competition after a two-year ban for steroid abuse has clearly touched a raw nerve with Hill, whose career also saw him collect a silver medal at the 1998 European Championships and three silvers and a bronze at the Commonwealth Games.

In 2003, Chambers was banned for two years after testing positive for the banned designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone.

Having already successfully petitioned governing body UK Athletics to allow him to compete at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, he is now predicted to fight a British Olympic Association ban preventing him running in Beijing.

After reading my interview last month with Nick Collins, the Leeds lawyer representing Chambers, Hill is eager to have his say.

Sitting in the cramped, javelin-cluttered office he shares at Leeds Metropolitan University's Carnegie Sports Centre in Headingley, the 44-year-old reflects on the sacrifices he made in his quest for the top.

For starters there are the eight major operations he endured on knee, shoulder and various other body parts during his 18-year career.

"I was in the sport from the age of 14 up to 39, busting my gut every day to be as good as I could be," says Hill, who now works developing talent for UK Athletics.

"I broke my body trying to get good at this sport, I didn't cheat.

"So when someone fast-tracks their way to success by using drugs it leaves a sour taste.

"I'm sure a lot of the athletes these days couldn't give a monkeys and just get on with their own business.

"But drug-taking touched my career and it obviously still goes on because people keep getting caught.

"Personally, I would ban all drugs cheats for life.

That might just make people think twice about doing it."

Hill, who now lives near Wetherby, says his problem with Chambers' return is that it all happened so suddenly.

"Ultimately he's served his ban and if he wants to run he's quite entitled to run.

"But Dwain went off to American football and led everyone to believe he was leaving athletics and wasn't going to compete again, so he wasn't tested frequently while he was away.

"The problem is with someone who is a convicted drugs cheat if they suddenly come back and run world class times again you're naturally going to be a bit sceptical.

"I'm not for a minute saying that he isn't clean now. But I don't know the residual effects from taking drugs, having never taken them in my life.

"If you take steroids for however long and you get a muscular benefit, how long can that be retained when you've stopped?

"I think that's why a lot of people – fans and athletes alike – aren't happy."

As someone tasked with nurturing new British talent, Hill feels most sympathy for those Chambers and other convicted drug cheats keep out of the team.

So what would his reaction be if Chambers made it to Beijing and won gold for Great Britain?

"I wouldn't applaud him and I would feel sorry for the people he took out of the team. Not just now but during the period he was taking drugs.

"He stopped people going to World Championships, Olympics, European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

"He took someone's spot who wasn't cheating. To turn round and say he served his ban and say let's all applaud him... I'm sorry, I just can't do that."