Doping shame hits Games

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-16 09:09

Two positive dope tests by Asian Olympic athletes overshadowed regional achievements yesterday with a Democratic People's Republic of Korea shooter and a Vietnamese gymnast exposed as cheats.

News of the results came a day after the International Baseball Federation revealed Chinese Taipei player Chang Tai-Shan failed a drugs test in July.

The DPRK's Kim Jong-Su, 31, won silver and bronze in the Olympics shooting but will be stripped of the medals, International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokeswoman Giselle Davies said.

"He came forward with a positive test and his medals and diploma will be withdrawn," Davies said of Kim.

Kim, who won a silver medal in the men's 50m pistol and bronze in the 10m pistol, tested positive to banned beta-blocker drugs.

"The IOC now asks the shooting sport federation to modify the results," added Davies.

The Vietnamese gymnast named was Do Thi Ngan Thuong, who tested positive for the banned diuretic furosemide.

She was the first gymnast from Vietnam to compete in an Olympics and ranked 59th in qualifying for the individual all-around event that was won by America's Nastia Liukin yesterday, with China's Yang Yilin third.

AFP

(China Daily 08/16/2008 page2)