Nick Willis says he’s been aware of systematic doping going on for pretty much the entirety of his decade-long career.

It hurts Nick Willis to say this, but his hope is that the latest revelations of widespread doping in the highest levels of track and field come down like a hammer blow on his beloved sport.

The 32-year-old New Zealand Olympic silver medallist in the 1500m is currently training at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona to prepare for the world championships in Beijing from August 22-30. As always he's doing things the hard and honest way but he knows there are many in his sport who aren't, and the sad thing is he's been aware of that for pretty much the entirety of his decade-long tenure in the top echelons of the sport.

The Michigan-based Wellingtonian said he's not in the least surprised by weekend revelations from two major news organisations that endurance runners suspected of doping have won over a third of Olympic and world championship medals. If anything, Willis is shocked the number is that low.

READ MORE: Willis speaks out on mass doping

The reports from Germany's ARD/WDR broadcaster and Britain's Sunday Times newspaper came after a leak of thousands of blood test results from 2001-2012, and have rocked the global athletics community.

The data was said to come from the secret files of world athletics governing body, the IAAF, and supplied by a whistleblower disgusted by the extent of doping.

Experts shown the data put distance running on a similar state to cycling which stripped American Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France victories because of admissions of drug-taking. They described an "extraordinary extent of cheating".

Willis knows he should be saddened, perhaps even angered, by the reports. But he said his "surprise factor" on a scale of one to 10, was "zero". He added: "None of this is new to me at all, or any of us in the sport, but there's satisfaction in the sense that at least the general public are being made aware of what's going on. There needs to be radical change."

Asked what good can come out of the revelations that have the World Anti-Doping Authority promising an investigation and track and field bosses pledging a response, Willis produced a bombshell.

In effect, the Olympic silver medallist from 2008, Commonwealth Games gold medallist from 2006, and an athlete still setting records well into his 30s, says the best result would be for the sport to come tumbling down.

"Perhaps the only way there can be real change is if the fans stop supporting our sport," Willis said. "If they're not showing up, if they throw up their arms and say 'I don't have interest any more', perhaps those making money off the sport will realise maybe we do have to change things because it's not just a gravy train any more.

"They've kept sweeping it under the rug all these years, saying we don't want to tear down the sport, but really that's what's going to have to happen if they want to develop any trust with the public again.

"It's bad for me to say that because I want people to watch our races, but my hope is it is a hammer blow and that it will be good for the sport. For those of us who genuinely want to create a level playing field again, we need to start afresh."

Willis isn't sure why there has been such a lack of action against so many suspect results, but admits it's a murky and expensive legal process with major ramifications on those pinpointed.

"It seems from these reports that there has been significant sweeping of this information under the rug … if some of the stars get unveiled sponsors will pull out, fans will stop watching and then the money doesn't flow in any more.

"I really want to see that happen if that's what's necessary to make it a genuine spectacle at the Olympics again. Who cares if no world records are being run?"

Willis figures he's lost major races, and medals, to drug cheats over the years but prefers not to dwell on it. "It's not a healthy way to go about what you do," he adds.

He admits Kenya's distance programme is "a very different world than what is being made out" and points to systematic failures hamstringing the IAAF.

"The USA, a country with 360 million people and many of the world's best athletes, gets the same number of votes as Papua New Guinea or the Turks and Caicos Islands. It's very easy in my opinion for those people to be lured into voting a certain way."

There's a lot rotten in Willis' world. And he wants it cleaned out.