Hormones found in Yuan's bag an illegal substance

Hormones found in Yuan's bag an illegal substance

PERTH, Australia (AFP): The human growth hormones uncovered in
the baggage of Chinese swimmer Yuan Yuan this week were enough to
use for the entire Chinese team at the world championship here,
U.S. coach Jon Urbanchek said yesterday.

Australian Customs confirmed Friday that the substance found
in Yuan's baggage at Sydney Airport on Thursday was a prohibited
human growth hormone.

Her coach Zhou Zhewen admitted to a customs official that he
had packed the 13 vials of somatropin into Yuan's baggage to pass
on to someone in Australia.

Yuan and Zhou have been expelled from the championship by the
Chinese delegation and face minimum four-year bans from the sport
for trafficking in the hormones.

Their fate was expected to be known possibly later yesterday
when FINA's doping panel reach their conclusions from an inquiry.

Urbanchek, the head men's coach of the U.S. team, said he had
been informed by the American head of the world swimming
federation's medical commission that the 13 vials found in Yuan's
possession could be enough to administer to the whole 23-member
Chinese contingent at the championship.

"Dr Allen Richardson told me the amount seized was good enough
for the entire Chinese team for the duration of this
competition," Urbanchek said.

"I'm not sure what the purpose of it was, but it definitely
wasn't the reason they gave," Urbanchek told reporters after a
press conference.

"The party line was that a coach made a mistake and brought it
out for a friend in Canberra, but I think it's a party line and
my name is Mao Zedong."

"I think the turtle soup they were going to cook here is going
to taste a little bit different, the main ingredient is missing."

Urbanchek said he did not believe the entire Chinese team
should be sent packing from Perth.

"I don't think FINA has the authority to throw anybody out, I
think it should be up to every country to police themselves."

"The dope control is going to be 100 percent only if every
country will buy into it, as Australia, some European countries
and the USA are doing," he said.

Task force

The world swimming federation FINA yesterday announced the
formation of a task force of science, research and forensic
experts to find ways of combating the sport's drug problems.

FINA secretary Gunnar Werner said the task force members, who
have to be appointed, will report back to the world swim body
within six months.

Werner said the task force will examine and provide
recommendations on improving the coordination of research; the
development and improvement of coordination and consistency of
national and international policies; the transport and
trafficking of substances and identifying problems such as the
inability of detecting certain substances and potential problems
with future performance enhancing drugs.

FINA's decision to form a task force follows the discovery of
growth hormone drugs in the baggage of Chinese swimmer Yuan Yuan
on her way to the world championships here.

Yuan Yuan and her coach Zhou Zhewen face possible four-year
suspensions in a FINA doping panel currently deliberating on the
case.