Chinese Olympic officials say drug problem not limited to China

by Larry McShane
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SYDNEY, Australia - Chinese Olympic officials, after acknowledging that nearly all of the 27 athletes bounced from their team had failed drug tests, charged that the problem was not limited to China.

"Many countries know that they have athletes using (performance-enhancing drug) EPO, including America, Australia, Germany, England, France - they all know," said Chinese Olympic Committee spokeswoman He Huixian. "It's a global problem."

Shortly after arriving in Sydney on Tuesday, the spokeswoman said "the overwhelming majority" of those left behind in China showed suspicious results for EPO. Initially, China had said 13 athletes tested positive for the drug.

Before coming to Sydney, Chinese officials had said some of the dropped athletes - among them swimmers, rowers, canoeists and track and field competitors - were injured, sick or performing poorly.

Six of the banned athletes were runners trained by famed coach Ma Junren. The spokeswoman said that "without doubt," Junren was responsible for the failed tests of his runners.

China's 284 competing athletes touched down in Sydney to find a local welcome wagon that included a half-dozen nuns with their heads shaved.

- ALI IN AUSTRALIA: Muhammad Ali is back at the Olympics.

After winning a gold medal in Rome and lighting the torch in Atlanta, Ali arrived in Australia on Tuesday for the Sydney Games.

He shook hands, signed autographs and joked with fans as he visited a recycling company plant in Adelaide, a city about 730 miles west of Sydney.

Despite shaking visibly from the Parkinson's disease that has afflicted him for years, Ali abandoned his luxury car to clown around with about 100 fans who turned out to see him.

"So this is the reason I've taken this tour, to see and meet the people," he said. "So you can see that I am as pretty as I said I was."