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Liu Xiang leads Chinese squad at East Asian Games
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-27 14:41
MACAU (AP) _ A deep Chinese squad led by Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang is expected to dominate at the fourth East Asian Games in the southern Chinese gambling enclave of Macau starting Saturday, despite a recent doping scandal.
Guo Jingjing arrives in Macau with Chinese delegation. |
China also appears to be using the nine-day competition to groom talent for the all-important 2008 Beijing Olympics on its home turf.
The 22-year-old Liu, who won gold in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2004 Athens Games, arrives in Macau fresh from an easy victory in the event at China's national games, where he clocked a time of 13.10 seconds.
Liu, who tied Colin Jackson's world record of 12.91 seconds at Athens, will be looking to improve. His best time of the year is 13.05. Frenchman Ladji Doucoure has posted 12.97 and American Allen Johnson has run 12.99.
But the Chinese track and field contingent is overshadowed by a doping scandal and a rough run at the recent national games.
Runner Sun Yingjie, who is on the Chinese roster for Macau, was stripped of her 1,500-meter and 10,000-meter silver medals and kicked out of the games after testing positive for a banned testosterone derivative.
Sun, who was allowed to keep her marathon gold, could face a two-year suspension if a second sample also tests positive.
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