The past few months were perhaps one of the most trying times for national shuttler Lee Chong Wei who was barred from playing since October over doping charges.

To recap, Lee was subjected to a drug test during the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships in Copenhagen last August.

In November, the BWF announced that Lee ( centre in photo ) would face temporary suspension for failing the test but penalties would only be meted out after hearing his defence.

Lee was found to have used a commonly-administered anti-inflammatory corticosteroid - dexamathosone - for rehabilitation during the off-season.

An agonising wait for the BWF verdict followed, during which Lee had to watch his BWF ranking slide from the top spot in December to the current 30th spot.

But that said, Lee is still the country's highest ranked singles badminton player and still one the country simply cannot do without.

Eight month suspension

Now that BWF has found him guilty , his penalty is an eight month suspension that has been backdated from last August and ends on May 1.

This augurs well for Lee, who can now work off the court rust during the Sudirman Cup in Dongguan (May), SEA Games in Singapore (June) and the World Championships in Jakarta (August).

But more importantly, Lee will be able to compete in the qualifiers for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In 2008 and 2012, Lee came close to bring home Malaysia's first Olympics gold. On both occasions, Lee fell to archrival Lin Dan of China.

Rio 2016 will be the last shot at Olympics gold for the 32-year-old Lee.

Although Lee has been found guilty of doping, he is by no means a disgraced athlete.

He is the most illustrious shuttler this country has ever produced and deserves our support for the Olympic campaign.

There is nothing Malaysians want more from him now than securing gold in Rio de Janeiro to the chants of "Chong Wei boleh".