China is determined to send a clean team to the Beijing Olympic Games and the determination has been reflected by banning top backstroker Ouyang Kunpeng, said a Chinese anti-doping official Friday.
Yuan Hong, head of the Chinese Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Commission, told Xinhua in a telephone interview that Ouyang, found positive for an anabolic steroid in a May 1 out-of-competition test, will be banned for life according to a new regulation adopted in March.
The Chinese Swimming Association announced the ban in early June after a hearing was held.
The country's sport governing body State General Administration of Sport put in force the regulation saying that national team athletes will be banned for life if found positive in doping test and his or her coach will also face life-time ban.
"Ouyang's ban proves nothing but our determination to weed out dope cheats among Chinese athletes. No matter how excellent an athletes is, he or she will be severely punished once tested positive," said Yuan who is on a nationwide inspection to tighten management of performance-enhancing drug suppliers and manufacturers ahead of the Olympics.
The inspection, conducted by eight government departments, would specially focus on Olympic host cities and regions with a concentrated chemical industry.
"We will continue our zero-tolerance policy in the fight against doping," she said. "We hope to send a clean team to the Olympic Games."
China found 15 positive cases in 2007 after conducting 10238 tests, 70 percent of them out-of-competition. When China first started doping tests, the number was merely 165.
Source: Xinhua
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