PARIS (AP):

With his federation embattled by widespread doping allegations that could lead to a reshuffle of Olympic and world championship podiums for more than a decade, IAAF president Lamine Diack defended his organisation's anti-doping record and dismissed the accusations as a "joke" yesterday.

Diack, who will be stepping down later this month after 15 years at the helm of the International Association of Athletics Federations, also questioned the timing of the reports, which came out three weeks before the track and field world championships in Beijing, which run from August 22-30.

"They are playing with the idea of a redistribution of medals," Diack said at the International Olympic Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur. "It's possible, if we prove, with the new techniques at our disposal, that someone doped. Otherwise, it's a joke. Just three weeks before the world championships, there is something behind."

Diack spoke after German broadcaster ARD and The Sunday Times newspaper in Britain said they obtained access to the results of 12,000 blood tests involving 5,000 athletes. The leaked files came from the database of the IAAF.

The report found that 146 medals - including 55 golds - in disciplines ranging from the 800 metres to the marathon at the Olympics and world championships were won by athletes who have recorded suspicious tests.

The Sunday Times said that 10 medals at the 2012 London Olympics were won by athletes with suspicious results, and that in some finals every athlete in the medal positions had recorded a dubious blood test.

"There is a film and a newspaper who are asking questions," said Diack. "We are going to answer them all. But it's not (just) because someone has a suspicious profile once that he was doped. When people say that there are medals to be redistributed from 2001 to 2012, it's just a farce."The IOC has previously stripped medals from athletes who have been retroactively found guilty of doping offences dating back to the time of the games. The IOC also stores Olympic doping samples for 10 years for possible retesting. Diack, who also suggested that the allegations were timed to overshadow the IAAF presidential election on August 19 that will pit Sebastian Coe against Sergei Bubka, did not specify which countries could be interested in a redistribution of medals.