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Just in case Extensive drug testing to be done
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- The Paralympic Games are less likely to produce drug cheats than the Olympics but extensive testing will be done, Games chief Lois Appleby said Wednesday. Three Bulgarian weightlifters, a Romanian hammer thrower and Romanian gymnast have all tested positive for banned drugs while a number of other athletes were barred from the Olympics after returning positive tests. The Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee (SPOC) was holding out hope its program would not suffer similar adverse publicity. "The Paralympics hasn't had the same number of drug cheats," Appleby said Wednesday. "There's a smaller number of athletes. "That's not to say it doesn't happen. We have an extensive program and I hope that it is a clear Games. But we will have to wait and see." Meanwhile, ticket sales for the Paralympics remain strong, organizers said. More than 70,000 opening ceremony tickets and 600,000 event tickets have been sold to events. "The Australian public rallied behind the Olympics and it's also rallying behind the Paralympic Games," Appleby told reporters. "And I'm confident now, the way the ticket sales have been going for the opening ceremony, that we reached 70,000 sales yesterday, that we will have a full stadium to welcome the athletes of the world when they walk in." SPOC is expecting 4,000 athletes from 125 countries to compete in the Paralympics.
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