Taiwan women lifters banned

Taipei, September 6: Two of Taiwan's female Olympic weightlifting hopefuls were barred from the Sydney Games for failing dope tests, Taiwa...

Taipei, September 6: Two of Taiwan’s female Olympic weightlifting hopefuls were barred from the Sydney Games for failing dope tests, Taiwan’s Olympic authorities said on Wednesday.

The federation recommended the IOC accept two other Tiwanese female lifters for the Games.

The CTOC was expected to nominate Huang Shih-chun and Tsai Hui-wan as replacements.

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“It’s our wish that the IOC will agree with the replacement of two female lifters so that the Chinese Taipei weightlifting sport can be duly represented in Sydney Olympic Games," the CTOC statement quoted its president Huang Ta-chou as saying.

But the IOC rejected replacing the banned athletes. “The replacement of these athletes is not a legal question, but a matter of principle in the fight against doping in sport,” the IOC said in a letter to CTOC.

“The IOC cannot support the replacement of these athletes for the 2000 Olympic Games from Chinese Taipei,” it said.

Local weightlifting authorities had barred the two athletes from the Games and any competition for two years but lifted the ban on August 18 after discovering flaws in their dope tests. The athletes were each fined $32,162.