Saturday, 4 October 2014 00:00
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Reuters: The Asian Games was hit by yet another doping scandal on Friday when China’s Zhang Wenxiu was expelled and stripped of the gold medal she won in the hammer throw.
China's Zhang Wenxiu competes in the women's hammer throw final at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium during the 17th Asian Games – REUTERS
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced that Zhang, an Olympic medallist in Beijing in 2008, had tested positive for Zeranol, a banned anabolic agent.
She became the sixth competitor, and the second gold medallist, to fail a drugs test in Incheon, leaving an ugly stain on Asia’s biggest multi-sports event, which ends in Incheon on Saturday.
The announcement came one day after Malaysia’s martial arts champion Tai Cheau Xuen lost an appeal to be reinstated after testing positive for a banned stimulant.
Cambodian soft tennis player Yi Sophany, Tajikistan footballer Khurshed Beknazarov, Iraqi weightlifter Mohammed Jasim Abboo Al Aifuri and Syrian karate competitor Nour Aldin Al-Kurdi also tested positive.
News of the latest positive test overshadowed the penultimate day’s competition where China won another seven gold medals to take their total to 149, with just seven more to be decided on Saturday before the Closing Ceremony.
Hosts South Korea won another four golds on Friday to lift their total to 77, second overall, while Kazakhstan had an extraordinary day, winning eight golds to remain fourth.
