China considers blood tests for doping
Posted: Tuesday November 24, 1998 01:38 PM
BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China, struggling to clean up
their appalling doping record, may carry out blood tests on
their swimmers before next month's Asian Games, a national coach
was quoted on Tuesday as saying.
The China Sports Daily said the national team had been
randomly tested for banned drugs over the last two months.
The tests were prompted by the International Amateur
Swimming Federation (FINA), the sport's world governing body,
which visited China four times during the period.
"In light of the situation, China will not rule out the
possibility of blood tests before the Asian Games," the
newspaper quoted Lu Yongming, deputy coach of the Chinese
swimming team, as saying.
"In brief, the Chinese swimming program will not permit
another doping scandal at the Asian Games," Lu said.
The Asian Games will be held from December 6 to 20 in
Bangkok.
The last Asian Games witnessed China's fall from grace when
seven swimmers, including two world champions, were among 11
Chinese athletes who tested positive for performance-enhancing
drugs in Hiroshima in 1994.
Four Chinese swimmers tested positive for steroid-masking
agents and another Chinese swimmer and her coach were banned for
bringing human growth hormone into Australia at the world
long-course championships in Perth last January.
China were banned from the last Pan Pacific championships in
1995 because of their bad doping record and there is pressure
for their exclusion from next year's edition of the
championships in Sydney.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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