Two Chinese athletes have tested positive for banned drugs
during the ongoing 6th Chinese City Games, organizers announced in
Wuhan, Hubei Province, on Saturday in a
statement.
Wushu (martial art) player Zhao Jie of Shijiazhuang, north
China's Hebei Province, and cyclist Xu Xiang from
Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, failed the
doping tests conducted during the City Games.
"Among the 1,239 tests, two examples turned out to be positive,
"said the spokesman Jiang Zhixue at the news conference.
"The athletes were suspected to use stimulants and anabolic
agents by the A example and we're following the procedure.
"We have notified the teams and the related sports associations
and we'll see whether to have B example tested or not after the
hearing," said Jiang.
Zhao won the title of all-around apparatus of knife and stick
and Xu competed in the men's team pursuit event qualifying
round.
"Their results have both been stripped of and the Shijiazhuang
and Yinchuan teams have lost the qualification to run for the Fair
Play Award," the statement said.
"The Chinese Cycling Association and the Chinese Wushu
Association will investigate the two cases," the statement
said.
China's anti-doping fight came into a new era with the birth of
the Anti-doping Regulation three years ago.
Less than three hundred days ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games, China's sports officials
deemed anti-doping fight as top priority at the Chinese City Games,
a national multi-sport junior event to be closed on Saturday
night.
"We enhanced the anti-doping work this time and we think the
results are acceptable. However, it's a complicated problem and we
know it's still a long way to go," said Jiang.
The image of Chinese sports was tainted in the 1990s following
the involvement of several high-profile athletes, notable
swimmers.
(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2007)