China's women swimmers challenging US, Australia dominance
Thursday, 14th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (2)
Chinese women are having a great morning in the pool, notching two silvers, a gold and a new world record. China only won two swimming medals in the 2004 Olympics.
Gold medallist Liu Zige
Liu Zige (刘子歌) won gold and Jiao Liuyang won silver in the women's 200 meters butterfly competition, in a rare 1-2 finish for Chinese swimmers. Liu swam a 2:04.18, a new world record and Jiao a 2:04.72.
China went on to win silver in another women's event, the 4 X 200 meters freestyle relay, with a time of 7:45.93. Gold went to Australia, and silver to the United States. Among the men, China's Wu Peng failed to medal in the 200 meter butterfly final, coming in more than two seconds behind bronze medal winner Takeshi Matsuda of Japan.
It should come as no surprise that China is having breakthroughs in the pool at this Olympics. Swimming offers 84 medals, making it a good target for China's effort to lead the gold and overall medal counts. The Chinese Swimming Association keeps its athletes out of most major international competition, so their best times were largely unknown before the games.
Unfortunately, this leads to some suspicion in the swimming world as to whether the athletes are clean. China has had some history with doping scandals, with positive tests after the team stormed the 1994 FINA World Championships, and with backstroker Ouyang Kunpeng failing a drug test earlier this year.
In the other pool, Ying Tung Natatorium, China's women's water polo team pulled off a major upset, beating a strong Russian team, 13-11. China had given reigning world champions the United States a scare two days before, losing by only one point, 12-11.
Image: Chinese Swimming Association
Tags: Beijing Olympics, doping, Jiao Liuyang, Liu Zige, Ouyang Kunpeng, swimming, water polo, Ying Tung Natatorium
Seven more athletes fail drug tests
Thursday, 3rd July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
UPDATE: This AFP report names one of the tainted athletes, wrestler Luo Meng, and says that Luo's coach has also recieved a lifetime ban. The report implies that the others involved were provincial level athletes and not Olympic hopefuls for the 2008 games.Pre-Olympic drug testing by the China Anti-Doping Agency has outed seven more Chinese athletes, aside from swimmer Ouyang Kunpeng, who have taken banned substances (Xinhua report)
The report names no new names, but says that among the busted athletes are two divers, two track and field athletes, two swimmers, one weightlifter and one wrestler.
"Finding drug cheats is not an embarrassment to us. On the contrary, it says what a firm stance we take in the fight against doping," the article quotes Yuang Hong, head of the Chinese Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Commission, as saying after the news.
The story also says that 110-meter hurdler Liu Xiang has been tested at least six times outside of competition in the past six months.
Related:
Chinese swimmer fails drug test
Liaoning doping raid
Tags: doping, Ouyang Kunpeng, swimming, track and field, weightlifting, wrestling
Chinese Swimmer Fails Drug Test
Friday, 27th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (2)
Ouyang Kunpeng (Reuters)
China Sports Daily published statement from the Chinese Swimming Association, including the following:
"The swimmer Ouyang Kunpeng tested positive in an out-of-competition test on May 1. The Chinese Swimming Association decided to give him a life ban ... although we have done lots of work, this positive case still happened, which is a deep lesson for us. We are going to take a clear stand on anti-doping work and firmly crack down on any violations."
Ouyang had won several medals in international Asian competition and was one of China's best medal hopes in swimming. The Chinese team draws suspicion from the international swimming world, because of its quick ascent in the sport and its athletes' absence from most major international events. Before the 1998 FINA World Championships in Perth, Australia, four Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned diuretic triamterene.
Tags: Chinese Swimming Association, doping, Feng Shangbao, Ouyang Kunpeng, swimming