Chinese swimmer banned for positive test

Last Updated: Friday, June 27, 2008 | 11:02 AM ET

CBC Sports

Ouyang Kunpeng won three silver medals at the 2006 Asian Games. (Vincent Yu/Associated Press)

China's top backstroker, Ouyang Kunpeng, has been banned for life for failing a doping test.

Kunpeng tested positive for a banned substance on May 1, the Chinese Swimming Association said in a statement Friday, without naming the substance. Ouyang's coach Feng Shangbao was also given a lifetime ban.

Reuters reported that Kunpeng tested positive for the anabolic agent clenbuterol, according to Zhao Jian, head of the anti-doping office at the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC).

"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 big lesson for us," the statement read.

"We are going to take a clear stand on anti-doping work and firmly crack down on any violations."

Ouyang, who won three silver medals at the 2006 Asian Games, wasn't considered a top Olympic medal contender. But his ban dealt another public relations blow to the host country with the Beijing Games just six weeks away.

China is hoping to overshadow problems leading up to the Aug. 8-24 Games — including air pollution, chaotic protests on the torch relay and issues of freedom of the press — by topping the gold-medal table and overtaking the United States.

Tougher testing

Friday's decision may have spared China the potential of an embarrassing positive test during the Games.

Chinese swimmers were involved in a series of doping scandals in the 1990s. At the 1998 world championships in Perth, four Chinese swimmers failed pre-competition tests for the diuretic triamterene, while another was disqualifed after being caught at the Sydney airport with 13 vials of human growth hormone.

In the past year, under pressure from the World Anti-Doping Agency, China has begun toughening its drug testing and is also trying to close factories in China that produce performance-enhancing drugs and sell over websites.

The China Anti-Doping Agency recently opened a new laboratory that will do 4,500 doping tests for the Olympics. That's up 25 per cent from the 2004 Athens Games.

"The Chinese Swimming Association has made lots of effort on anti-doping, however this positive test case still happened," the statement said. "It's a big lesson, and we need to stay alert on anti-doping and pay constant attention."

"The Chinese Swimming Association strongly opposes doping and is cracking down to guarantee a fair-play environment, to protect athletes' health and guarantee athletes are clean when competing in Olympics."

China is expected to produce few winners in the pool in Beijing, and has won only one gold medal in swimming in the past two Olympics. The top candidate is probably Wu Peng in the 200-metre butterfly.