Chinese sports officials slapped bans of between two and four years on athletes who tested positive for steroids and banned substances last month, an official newspaper said Thursday.
"China's positive test rate for doping inspections stands at 1.49 percent, higher than the results of foreign inspections, but still normal," said Yang Tianle, director of China's Doping Inspection Center.Sports officials last month blacklisted Olympic medallist Xing Fen and 23 other athletes, including six track and field athletes and one swimmer, for taking anabolic steroids and blocking agents.
The newspaper and another sports official admitted to China's pervasive drug problems, saying use had increased since the first positive test in 1988.