SEX slur athlete Kathy Jager has helped to form a committee she hopes will rewrite the rules to level the playing field for older athletes, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The move comes in the wake of the failure of the 56-year-old American to have the World Association of Veteran Athletes overturn a two-year-ban imposed after she failed a drugs test.

The grandmother was stripped of two gold medals she won at the World Veterans' Championships in Gateshead, in 1999, after testing positive for methyl-testosterone, contained in a post-menopausal medication she was receiving.

The ban came in the wake of sensational accusations by rivals that she was a man, forcing her to undergo a sex test.

Now USA Track and Field, which unsuccessfully recommended her reinstatement, has called on Mrs Jager to sit on a committee to pool information from experts.

A representative of the committee will travel to Brisbane, in Australia, in July, where evidence will be presented to officials from the World Association of Veteran Athletes, which refused to overturn her ban.

There the committee, armed with scientific evidence, will try to negotiate an agreement allowing senior athletes to take drugs that replenish their bodies, but do not enhance their performances.

Speaking last night from Phoenix, Arizona, Mrs Jager said: "A lot of women are impacted by the current rules. I believe that we need to continue to test athletes, because unfortunately there are always going to be people who are going to cheat."

Mrs Jager, who was unaware a banned substance was in her medication, said there should be a separate procedure for veteran athletes to address their particular medical needs.

She did not start competing until she was 50. Her ban will continue until after the next world veteran championships.

She has broken records at various meetings in 100m and 200m, pole vault, long jump, high jump, shotputt, javelin and discus.

At the World Association of Veteran Athletes meet in Gateshead she won the 200m in 28.32 seconds and was clocked at 13.5 secs in the 100m