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Thursday December 22, 2005

China accept FINA verdict to ban Zhou Jie

BEIJING: China's swimming federation has agreed to abide by a doping suspension meted out to 15-year old swimmer Zhou Jie, who tested positive for the banned steroid clenbuterol, state press said yesterday.

Zhou tested positive for the anabolic steroid in an unannounced out-of-competition test taken in September by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and was suspended by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) on Nov 24.

“We will obey the FINA decision,” Shang Xiutang, vice president of the China Swimming Association, told the Beijing News. “We will continue our fight against doping.”

Shang said the discovery of clenbuterol in Zhou's test could have resulted from street food that she had eaten prior to the test, but he did not elaborate on how the substance could have got into the food.

Zhou had the 19th fastest time in the world this year in the 800m freestyle, according to the FINA website. She also finished fourth in the 1,500m freestyle in the East Asian Games in Macau in November.

Zhou is the fifth Chinese swimmer to be suspended for a doping offence since 2001 when two swimmers received six-month bans for clenbuterol. – AFP


For Another perspective from the China Daily, a partner of Asia News Network, click here


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