China hit by dope hammer blow
Print Edition
A CHINESE hammer champion was stripped of her Asian Games gold medal for doping yesterday in a case that punctured the euphoria surrounding China’s dominance of the regional Olympics.
Zhang Wenxiu, who has three Asiad titles to her name, became the sixth drugs case in Incheon.
On the penultimate day, it brought a sour note to a campaign which has otherwise been a triumph for China, which has run away with it on the medals table with 149 out of 432 golds.
The Chinese Olympic Committee said the positive test for anabolic agent zeranol may have come from contaminated meat, but it did not indicate that it planned to appeal. “The athlete may dope deliberately, but there also remains the possibility that the positive reading was due to her consumption of contaminated meat,” said a statement quoted by Xinhua news agency.
“Whatever the cause is, we respect the OCA’s decision regarding Zhang’s case, because the World Anti-Doping Code stipulates that athletes must bear the subsequences for the substance found in his or her body,” the statement added.
Zhang hurled an Asian Games record 77.33 meters to win her third straight Asiad gold last Sunday.
Despite her disqualification, China will keep the gold as teammate Wang Zheng came second ahead of India’s Bala Manju and Masumi Aya of Japan.
In better news for China, its divers completed a perfect 10-title haul as platform king Qiu Bo and He Zi in the women’s 3m springboard rounded off a flawless team performance. Since joining the Asian Games in 1974, China has won every diving event contested, an unbeaten streak stretching 40 years.
The two titles were among seven gold medals for China yesterday with just seven left in play before the 15-day event closes this evening.
Basketball final
South Korea, second on the table with 77 golds, won a thrilling men’s basketball final as it beat favorite Iran 79-77, coming from five points behind with two minutes left.
TJ Moon, who scored 19 points, said his heart was in his mouth when Iran captain Samad Nikkhah Bahrami went for what would have been a title-winning 3-pointer in the dying seconds. “I was nervous about them hitting a three to win,” Moon said. “He had been making shots all night — but luckily he missed.”
Kazakhstan’s boxers dominated the men’s finals with six out of 10 golds, as a row over judging standards finally took a back seat.
Ilyas Suleimenov (flyweight), Daniyar Yeleussinov (welter), Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (middle), Adilbek Niyazymbetov (light heavy), Anton Pinchuk (heavy) and Ivan Dychko (super heavy) completed the roll of honor.
India’s Laishram Sarita Devi, who refused to accept her lightweight bronze medal in protest at the judging of her semifinal, apologized for the podium snub. “I regret and apologize. Such an incident will never reoccur in the future,” she said in an International Boxing Association statement.
Sri Lanka won its first Asian Games gold medal since 2002 with a crushing 68-run win over Afghanistan in the men’s cricket Twenty20 final.
Afghanistan took silver for the second time a row, a remarkable achievement for a war-torn nation new to the game.
Cambodia captured its first ever gold medal at the Asian Games, and its first of any color since 1970, when teenager Seavmey Sorn women’s under 73 kilogram taekwondo event, beating Iran’s Fatemeh Rouhani in the final.
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