IAAF to investigate reports of doping corruption in China
By Alice Piper
Last Updated: 05/02/16 12:37pm
The IAAF could scrap the women's 10,000m record amid reports the current world record holder has admitted to doping.
Olympic champion and multiple world record holder Wang Junxia is said to have written a letter to a Chinese journalist, in which she admits being involved in a state-sponsored doping regime under the infamous Ma Junren, coach of China's "Ma's Army" of runners.
Nine of Wang's team-mates reportedly signed the letter which, if verified, could result in the 10,000m record being scrapped - an action which would affect the race Britain's Jo Pavey aims to run at the Rio Olympics.
The IAAF confirmed actions are being taken to verify the letter's validity. In a statement, it said: "The CCTV (Chinese State Media) story confirms the existence of the letter allegedly written to the journalist only became known yesterday.
"Therefore the IAAF's first action must be to verify that the letter is genuine. In this respect, the IAAF has asked the Chinese Athletics Association to assist it in that process. In any case, IAAF Competition Rule 263.3 (e) note (ii) clearly states that if anyone makes an admission of guilt, the IAAF can take action.
"If an athlete has admitted that, at some time prior to achieving a world record, he had used or taken advantage of a substance or technique prohibited at that time, then, subject to the advice of the Medical and Anti-Doping Commission, such record will not continue to be regarded as a world record by the IAAF."
The reports further strengthen claims of widespread corruption within the world of athletics, less than a fortnight after Russia's Olympic Committee banned four athletes for doping violations based on documents handed over by the IAAF.
Russian athletics is currently embroiled in scandal following a bombshell report by a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission alleging state-sponsored doping and mass corruption in the sport.
In the letter addressed to reporter Zhao Yu, who published a book titled "An Investigation of Ma's Army" in 1997, Junxia is reported to have said: "It is absolutely true that Ma forced us to take large doses of illegal drugs.
"We were sad when we revealed this to you, and seriously worried that might impair China's reputation, as well as it might devalue the gold medals we won. But we must disclose these criminal behaviours because we don't want the same things happen to the next generation."
Junxia knocked 42 seconds off the previous best when she set the 10,000m world record of 29 minutes 31.78 seconds at the Chinese National Games in September 1993. Five days later at the same meeting, she ran 8:06.11 for a new 3,000m world record.
