On Anti-Doping, China Faces Host of Questions

During Pound's visit last October, a Chinese Olympic Committee official gave a presentation entitled "Education on Anti-Doping of China." The lengthy document included a six-word summary of the nation's stance on doping: "Seriously banned, strictly testing, severely punishing."

Pound, however, said areas of concern remain. He said he admonished his hosts for conducting only slightly more drug tests on their considerable pool of athletes than Australia, a much smaller nation; urged officials to work harder to halt Internet sales of steroids and human growth hormone that originates in China; and reminded them that "they have to have an independent anti-doping organization, insofar as anything in China can be independent from the government."

"The world would have to be satisfied," Pound said, "that their doping control program at the Games is of the highest quality."

During a WADA Executive Committee meeting before his visit, Pound had complained that China's central government did not appear to have as much power in its provinces as it -- or WADA -- would like, raising questions about its ability to enforce anti-doping laws and rules throughout the nation, according to the meeting minutes. Discussions about Pound's trip and the anti-doping issues the Chinese would confront figured prominently in that meeting and another two months later, according to the minutes.

Pound's visit came at an awkward time for Chinese anti-doping authorities. Weeks earlier, a surprise raid of an athletics school in Liaoning turned up dozens of bottles of EPO (erythropoietin), testosterone and other steroids in a classroom and the headmaster's refrigerator. Investigators also reported finding 10 children ages 15 to 18 receiving injections of performance-enhancing drugs at the school, bringing charges of "collective doping" upon administrators there. The bust, which occurred precisely two years before the start of the Olympics, was announced by the government several weeks later.

The school was the second in Liaoning since 2002 to face such charges. Liaoning is home to many Chinese athletic stars, including controversial distance coach Ma Junren, whose stable of female runners (known as Ma's Army) got kicked off the Chinese Olympic team before the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney because of abnormal blood tests, and world 10,000-meter bronze medalist Sun Yingjie, who tested positive for a steroid in 2005.

Chinese officials contend the school bust provided evidence of the nation's commitment to eradicating the doping problem that deeply scarred and embarrassed China in the 1990s. Female Chinese swimmers raised eyebrows and infuriated rivals by winning gold medals in 12 of 16 events at the 1994 world championships in Rome. In the resulting international and internal crackdown, about 40 Chinese swimmers were barred for use or possession of drugs.

"There's still the stigma from the mid-90s," Australian swim coach Alan Thompson said in March at the world championships. "That's going to take a long time to fade."

The scandal nearly wiped out the Chinese swimming program -- China won no medals in the sport in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and only two in the 2004 Olympics in Athens -- but it also provided the impetus for sweeping anti-doping measures.

Zhao said the Chinese anti-doping agency expects to perform about 10,000 tests this year on Chinese athletes (including testing for the endurance-enhancing EPO), an increase of about 1,000 from last year and double the number performed in 2004. By comparison, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency performed 7,856 domestic tests last year, and the Australian Anti-Doping Authority, 7,603.

In 1990, when China instituted its drug-testing program, only 165 tests were conducted.

"Our testing numbers have increased a lot," Zhao said. "China is not a rich country. We just do our best. The government fully supports our program."