Athletics: Nine-time Olympic gold medal winner Carl Lewis has indicated that he had indeed tested positive for three banned substances, but had been let off by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

Lewis, who also said a herbal supplement that triggered his positive tests at the 1988 Olympic trials gave him no advantage, told the Orange County Register newspaper he was treated the same as "hundreds of others" who tested positive.

"There were hundreds of people getting off," Lewis said in his first public comments since the newspaper reported last week more than 100 US athletes were allowed to compete after failing drugs tests between 1988 and 2000.

"Everyone was treated the same," added Lewis who tested positive three times for pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine - stimulants banned by the US and International Olympic Committees.

The newspaper had reported, after obtaining documents from Wade Exum, the USOC's director for drug control between 1991 and 2000, that the USOC had disqualified Lewis, but then accepted his appeal on the basis that he had taken an herbal supplement and was unaware of its contents.

Lewis, who insisted the herbal supplement he took did not give him an advantage, received a warning after US officials ruled his positive tests were due to "inadvertent" use.

"The climate was different (then)," Lewis added in the interview published in the Orange County Register, a Los Angeles area daily newspaper.

"Over the years a lot of people will sit around and debate that it (the supplement) does something. There really is no pure evidence to show that it does something. It does nothing."

Lewis, who was arrested in Los Angeles on Monday for suspected drunk driving, won the 100 metres gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics after Canada's Ben Johnson was stripped of the title and his world record of 9.79 seconds was disallowed when he tested positive for steroids.

Johnson's former manager, Charlie Francis, suggested Lewis be stripped of his medals.

"Do you expect him to say anything different? I mean we're talking about Ben Johnson. Come on. Let's be realistic," Lewis said.

USOC denied the initial newspaper reports of Exum's claims, saying he had planned to use the documents in a failed law suit against it for racial discrimination and wrongful dismissal.

USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel has said the organisation sees no reason for an audit or review, and that there was no evidence any of the cases were mishandled.

Lewis (41), meanwhile, said he was not concerned about the uproar around the world caused by the revelations.

"I've been retired for five years, and they're still talking about me," Lewis said. "So I guess I still have it."