Gareth Davies

Paralympians are making world news at present. All for good reasons. I was in St Petersburg last week with our Paralympic legend Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, and an array of the world's most iconic sports names, who are heavily supportive of the development of disability sport and the Paralympic Games.

The Laureus World Sports Academy comprise 43 iconic sports figures who work with projects in unprivileged communities around the world. The meeting in St Petersburg is a glitzy celeb-studded awards ceremony, which wrongly, often overshadows the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foudation, the charitable arm which idealistically wants to change the world through sport.

One of Tanni's most heart-rending missions is with The Magic Bus, in India, where she is helping to educate young street girls so that they do not get forced into living on the streets, and from there, often into prostitution.

The Magic Bus travels through the communities, invites all children, not just girls, on board, and helps to give direction to the lives of many Indian children living on the streets.

I've long been in support, indeed pushed even, for Dame Tanni to be put forward as Minister for Sport. I personally think it should not be held by an MP, but should be charged with reporting to the Secreatary of State for Culture Media and Sport. Now, finally, Tanni's skills in this type of area will be tested. She has been appointed by UK Athletics, only 10 days ago, to head a review of its anti-doping policy. Her first statement to me in St Petersburg this week was to say that drug cheats should be banned for eight years. She says she is to prepared to be "Stalinesque" in pressing for moves that any athlete caught taking prohibited substances could be banned at every level for eight years. It comes in the wake of Dwain Chambers, 29, being selected for the World Indoor Championships against the wishes of UK Athletics, having returned from a two-year drug ban in 2006 after testing positive for tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).

Tanni will have to discover if an eight-year ban is legally possible. She is to spend the next two weeks with lawyers to find out what the governing body can impose and believes there is a political will to increase drug bans.

"There's no point in spending the next six months coming up with recommendations that can't stand up in court. Athletics has to decide what it wants its destiny to be, because it's not fair to the sport, and the athletes, what we've just been through. I want to ensure the review delivers well thought-out and robust solutions. I will be bringing in legal experts, scientific advisers, until we get to a point where we can pin down hard and fast recommendations. Athletes need clarification through a new system. We can't keep lurching from court case to court case."

This will be a good test case for her on an emotive, troubling subject, and should she come through it well, I believe it will strengthen the case to have our Paralympic Dame pushed higher up into the corridors of power to run British sport.

Also at the Laureus Awards, there were the 21 year old double amputee sprinter from South Africa Oscar Pistorius, and British Paralympic cyclists Darren Kenny and Sarah Storey. Pistorius was named in the Breakthrough of the Year category, alongside Alberto Contador (Spain, Cycling), Novak Djokovic (Serbia, Tennis), Tyson Gay (US, Athletics), Lewis Hamilton (UK, Motor Racing) and. Casey Stoner (Australia, Motor Cycling). In the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability category, the two Brits were nominated alongside Daniel Dias (Brazil, Swimming), Michael Teuber (Germany, Cycling), Esther Vergeer (Netherlands, Wheelchair Tennis). Esther won for a second time.

Blade runner Oscar Pistorius, who did not win the Breakthrough award (it went to Lewis Hamilton, predictably) has finally conceded defeat over reaching the Beijing Olympics. That said, even if he had had clearance he was still 0.8 seconds outside the Olympic 400m qualifying time.

He will still compete at the Paralympics. He told me that he has given up all hope of competing in Beijing but hopes his appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport, following the IAAF ruling that they believe his prosthetic running legs give him an advantage, will allow him to compete at London in 2012. The IAAF ruled that Pistorius, who had both legs amputated when he was 13 months old, must not compete alongside able-bodied athletes as his carbon fibre prosthetic legs give him an advantage. But an appeal is lodged, with the IAAF having to present their case to the CAS by Monday. Pistorius explained: "If we open the door for 2012 I'd be very happy."

For your info, members of the Laureus World Sports Academy present were: Giacomo Agostini, Marcus Allen, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Sergey Bubka, Nadia Comaneci, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marvin Hagler, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurain, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Edwin Moses, Robby Naish, Ilie Nastase, Morné du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Mark Spitz and Steve Waugh.