BEIJING Controversial Chinese track coach Ma Junren and six of the seven athletes he had trained for the Sydney Olympics were absent from a list released Wednesday of the team being sent to the games.
"Ma's Family Army" appears to be one of the main victims of a Chinese decision to reduce its Olympic delegation by a reported 27 athletes, for reasons that included doping.
"Some of the athletes had problematic blood tests," the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
"For their own health's sake, and for the sake of the principle of fair competition, they will not be going to Sydney to compete." Members of "Ma's Family Army" deleted from the list include Li Jingnan, Lan Lixin and Dai Yanyan, as well as Dong Yanmei, a 5,000m gold medal hopeful, AFP reported.
Only one member of the "Army," Li Ji, was still on the team, according to Xinhua.
Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday that China had dumped 27 athletes scheduled to compete in rowing and other sports.
Prior to the revision, in late August, China said its final list included 311 athletes that would compete in the Sydney Games.
The revision announced on Wednesday means China will be almost certain to send fewer athletes to Sydney than to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, when a team of 309 helped it to a fourth place in the medal standings, with 16 gold medals.
Sportasia.com, an AFO-affiliated Website, reported Wednesday that Ma will miss the Olympics because four of his runners had excess levels of the banned drug epo.
The report that Ma will not be allowed to go to Sydney came after widespread speculation in the Chinese media about the whereabouts of Ma and his team.
Ma and his athletes secretly left their training camp in the Chinese Himalayas on Sunday, days before they were originally scheduled to depart, local media said.
(AFP)