IN BRIEF (Page 22)
Swimming
Chinese swimmers all pass doping tests
SHUNDE, South China: Not a single Chinese swimmer failed doping tests in 2006, Li Hua, the director of China's swimming administration center, said on Monday.
At the 13th Anti-Doping Conference held by the Chinese Swimming Association, Li Hua said the association conducted 922 tests on 456 Chinese swimmers in 2006 and none of the tests turned out to be positive.
"The number of the tests rose by 4.1 percent compared to last year and the number of the Chinese swimmers taking the tests accounts for 35.84 percent of the total registered," Li added.
Last year, the Chinese swimmers competed in the Asian championships, Shanghai world short course championships and Doha Asian Games. During the competitions, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the world swimming governing body FINA conducted 18 tests on 14 Chinese swimmers. Furthermore, 38 Chinese swimmers took out-of-competition tests.
Team ready to take early plunge for 2008
Chinese swimmers will compete in morning finals at a major meet this week to get used to early rises at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, local media reported on Tuesday.
Last October, the International Olympic Commission (IOC) decided to move swimming finals and much of the gymnastics at next year's Games to the morning, after American broadcaster NBC requested the switch to coincide with prime-time in the U.S.
Morning finals for the country's top swimmers at the Chinese Spring National Championships in Foshan, Guangdong province, were necessary to adapt to Olympic conditions, the People's Daily quoted China coach Zhang Yadong as saying.
"We should live by the Olympic timetable from now on... The national meet can tell us what to change and what to improve for the Olympic Games," Zhang said.
Cycling
Chomgming hosts int'l women's cycling race
Fifteen teams from around the world will take part in the Tour of Chongming Island International Women's Cycling Race from June 2 to 6, the organizers announced yesterday in Beijing.
The event, organized by the Chinese Cycling Association, the Shanghai Sports Bureau and the Chongming County People's Government, will feature individual time trials intercontinental 1.2 class race and the individual intercontinental 2.2-class race, totalling 350 kilometers.
Around 100 cyclists from Europe, America, Africa, Oceania and Asia will fight to earn qualifying points for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The event, an intercontinental race registered at the International Cycling Union, marks the first that professional women's cycling has been held in China and Asia.
(China Daily 05/16/2007 page22)
