Sebastian Coe has admitted his anger at the Russian doping allegations surrounding London 2012 ©Getty Images

Sebastian Coe has admitted his "anger" at the allegations of Russian doping which have removed the gloss from the London 2012 Olympics he helped win for his country.

The Briton led the Organising Committee before the Games which were widely considered to be a major success.

However, the second part of the McLaren report alleged earlier this month that Russia had "corrupted" London 2012 on an "unprecedented scale", the extent of which "will probably never be established".

The country stands accused of orchestrating a state-sponsored doping scheme, which was designed over an extended period of time, to allow athletes to compete with the aid of banned substances.

More than 1,000 athletes across summer, winter and Paralympic sports were allegedly involved, in a widespread system of cheating described as an "institutional conspiracy".

All Russian samples from London 2012 will now be re-tested using up-to-date methods by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The London 2012 Games have been tainted by Richard McLaren's allegations ©Getty Images
The London 2012 Games have been tainted by Richard McLaren's allegations ©Getty Images

Coe, now the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), has already demonstrated a tough stance against Russia after his organisation banned the country from the Rio 2016 Olympics in August.

This followed the first part of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) Independent Commission report in November 15, with the country still not cleared to return to the fold.

Far more serious allegations have emerged since then, most notably in the two editions of Richard McLaren's report which was also spearheaded by WADA.

"I felt angry, because they're athletes, and I know what that feels like," Coe, a double Olympic gold medallist in the 1,500 metres, said to ITV News.

"Anybody that makes it in to an Olympic Stadium has probably devoted over half their life to doing that and the thought that with such callous and malintent that that dream could just be snatched away is just horrendous and that's why I'm angry and I'm always angry when clean athletes have their opportunities stripped from them.

"The scale of duplicity was extraordinary and the lengths that one single system has gone to subvert the dream and ambitions of clean athletes is equally shocking." 

The IAAF's decision to introduce a blanket Russian ban at Rio 2016 differed to the IOC stance - which instead allowed the International Federations to make individual decisions in their sports.