Olympic Committee and China Vow Unprecedented Crackdown on Doping

Jul 7th, 2008 • Posted in: News

But there’s a problem with ancient Chinese ‘traditional’ medicines: exotic herbal and animal concoctions can sometimes trigger a positive test result

BEIJING
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says it will wage an unprecedented battle against doping at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

According to a report from the Associated Press, the IOC will conduct 4,500 doping tests in Beijing, almost a thousand more than in Athens four years ago and a 90 percent increase from the rate of testing at the 2000 Sydney games.

In related news, the Chinese government last week banned eight athletes allegedly caught doping in a massive nationwide swoop, reports the Melbourne Herald Sun. The sacked competitors include wrestler Luo Meng and men’s swimmer Ouyang Peng.

Authorities also have turned their attention to medical institutions, with China’s Ministry of Health conducting a nationwide check of whether public and private hospitals and clinics are following regulations about performance-enhancing substances, the state-run media news service Xinhua reports.

China’s situation is complicated by the widespread use of “traditional medicines” — remedies, some bizarre by Western standards, that may contain substances that would yield a positive result on a doping test. The London Daily Telegraph notes that several doping scandals related to traditional cures occurred in the 1990s, when a group of runners tested positive after being given a concoction of turtle’s blood and caterpillar fungus.

Sources: AP, July 5 — Xinhua, July 4 — Telegraph, July 4 — Melbourne Herald-Sun, July 3.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, May 27 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 17 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 25 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 18 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 22.

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One Response »

1. Ethics Newsline® » News » With Olympics Looming, China Cracks Down on Disorder, Dissent on July 14th, 2008 at 7:59 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 7 — Related Newsline story, June 30 — Related Newsline story, June 23 [...]

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