China acknowledges Shanghai company's role in Greek doping bust
Saturday, 2nd August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
China's Food and Drug Administration has officially assigned some responsibility in one of the biggest doping scandals of the year to a Shanghai company called Auspure Biotechnology, according to the Shanghai Daily.Eleven Greek weightlifters failed drug tests in April and the athletes' subsequent ban from the 2008 Olympics has pretty much destroyed the team's medal hopes. When the positive tests were announced, Greek coach Christos Iakovou said Auspure had sold him tainted vitamins without his knowledge, and claimed to have a written apology from the company as evidence.
"Investigations have since found that the Auspure Biotechnology Co did illegally smuggle and sell doping formulas," the Shanghai Daily quotes Gao Feng, an official of the Supervision Department of the State Food and Drug Administration, as saying at a press conference yesterday.
Related:
Greeks blame doping scandal on Chinese lab
Supplement company closed in doping scandal
Greek weightlifters' B sample positive, coach still blames Chinese firm
Tags: Auspure Biotechnology, Beijing Olympics, Christos Iakovou, doping, Gao Feng, Greece, Olympics
Greek Weightlifters' B Sample Positive, Coach Still Blames Chinese Firm
Wednesday, 7th May 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis lost his Athens bronze after a positive drug test.
Greek coach Christos Iacovou, who resigned after the test results were announced, still contends that his team was shipped a tainted batch of supplements by Chinese nutritional supplement maker Auspure Biotechnology. In his statement, he called for the Greek prosecutor to seek the help of Chinese authorities in securing testimony from Auspure, according to this report.
One of the athletes is reportedly threatening legal action against anyone found to have caused her to unknowingly consume a banned substance.
Weightlifting is a sport where China has a history of success and multiple medal contenders.
Related stories:
Supplement Company Closed in Doping Scandal
Greeks Blame Doping Scandal on Chinese Lab
Image: Esporte.uol.com
Tags: Greece, Olympics, weightlifting
Greeks Blame Doping Scandal on Chinese Lab
Wednesday, 9th April 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
When the International Weightlifting Federation announced on April 6 that 11 Greek weightlifters tested positive for banned substances it was a bombshell that seemed to signal the end of Greece's Olympic weightlifting hopes. But we didn't report it here because the story seemed only marginally China-related.What a difference a few days make. Now the Greeks are blaming the positive tests on tainted nutritional supplements, made in—you guessed it—China. The Greek Weightlifting Federation even says it has evidence, in the form of a written apology from a Chinese pharmaceutical company, according to a report in The Guardian.
The report includes the following statement from Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, lawyer for Greek weightlifting coach Christos Iacovou:
"I have the letter from one of China's biggest pharmaceutical companies with which they apologize for the tragic mistake of sending nutritional supplements which included some banned substances."
The athletes are already sitting out the European Championships, which start April 11. Their fate rests with the International Weightlifting Federation. If the letter is found to be genuine, it would help clear the athletes' names but may have little impact on whether they compete in August. According to the IWF's bylaws, athletes can be found in violation whether they intentionally took the substances or not.
According to the International Herald Tribune, the company named by Dimitrakopoulos is Shanghai-based Auspure Biotechnology.
In its listing on eChinachem.com, Auspure says it exports 100 percent of its products and steroids are among its product categories. Since at least August 2007 and as recently as January, the United States Food and Drug Administration has refused several Auspure products entry to the U.S. market due to adulteration. Auspure declined to comment when we contacted them by phone today.
Tags: Auspure, doping, Greece, weightlifting