BEIJING, June 6: One of China's top young women weightlifters has tested positive for banned steroids and faces a two-year ban, state press reported on Tuesday. According to the Chinese Olympic Committee, Zeng Ying, 19, a silver medalist at the 2005 World University Games in the 58 kilogram class, failed an out-of-competition doping test on April 21, Xinhua news agency reported.

She has denied using any banned substances, but also gave up the testing of the B sample of her urine test because she did not have the 5,000 yuan (635 dollars) needed to pay for it, the report said.

Yu Jinglong, head of Beijing's weightlifting team and Zeng's coach, has also been suspended following the test result and faces a one-year ban, it said.

In June last year, China suspended 12 weightlifters for two years for fraudulent doping tests and banned their coaches from participating in the sport for life.

The 12 athletes were all women weightlifters from central Hubei province who were involved in forging identity papers in an effort to circumvent drug tests, state press reports said at the time.

After a series of doping scandals involving world top ranked swimmers in the mid and late 1990s, China has vowed to clean up its act ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has implemented a series of strict anti-doping measures.—AFP