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| December 12, 2006 | Tuesday | Ziqa'ad 20, 1427 |
Fourth weightlifter tests positive
DOHA, Dec 11: A fourth weightlifter has tested positive for a banned substance at the Asian Games and been stripped of her silver medal, the organisers said here on Monday.
Myanmar's Oo Mya Sanda, who won silver in the 75kg division, failed the test when traces of a banned muscle bulk-building agent were found in her urine.
Oo's compatriot Than Kyi Kyi had become the first athlete to test positive for doping at the Games on Saturday. She was followed by two lifters from Uzbekistan, Elmira Ramileva and Alexander Urinov on Sunday. Husain Al Musallam, Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), said Doha’s doping control body, international sporting federations and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) were on the same page when it came to combating drug use.
“We are working together as one team to fight the cheats in the Asian Games and around the world,” he said at a news conference. Weightlifting was a good sport and its reputation should not be tarnished by the actions of a few individuals, he added. “We cannot blame weightlifting as a sport. We will continue to have it in the Asian Games programme.”
Al Musallam said it was important to recognise the social, cultural and economic issues facing athletes in different parts of the world and that educating them would be a key factor in getting drugs out of sport.
There had been more than 800 tests conducted with only four positives, he said, adding that the percentage was not high compared with other world sporting events.
OCA Medical Committee member Jegathesan Manikavasagam said the testing procedures were state-of-the-art for the Doha sporting spectacle and the most thorough in Asian Games history.
“In Busan (2002) or in any other Asian Games before that, there was no pre-event testing,” he said.
“There was no blood testing or test for EPO (erythropoietin). All of these have been introduced for the first time at the Doha Asian Games.”
EPO stimulates the production of red blood cells, increasing oxygen-carrying capacity and therefore improving endurance.
Oo’s silver medal goes to South Korea's Kim Soon-hee while Indonesia's Sinta Darmariani is bumped up from fourth to bronze. China's Cao Lei won the 75kg gold medal.—Reuters
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