Beijing, May 6 (IANS) The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Wednesday announced that they will return the Asian Games gold medal to Chinese hammer thrower Zhang Wenxiu after her positive doping result was cancelled.
The OCA disqualified Zhang and took back her gold medal after her sample showed the presence of banned substance Zeranol, two days after her victory on September 28, last year, reports Xinhua.
“Because of these findings, the Olympic Council of Asia disqualified the athlete and withdrew her gold medal, in accordance with the applicable OCA Anti-Doping Regulations,” said OCA.
Zhang filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in October 2014 and had the OCA’s decision overturned.
“In April 2015, following further testing performed by independent specialists, the Olympic Council of Asia was informed that such testing had established that the presence of Zeranol was, as Ms. Zhang asserted, the consequence of the consumption of contaminated food, i.e. the consumption of the Mycotoxin Zearalenone, and that Ms. Zhang did not ingest the prohibited substance detected in her sample,” said OCA in the statement.
“Based on this new information and supported by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the Olympic Council of Asia recognises that Ms. Zhang did not return an Adverse Analytical Finding for the presence of Zeranol, nor therefore commit an Anti-Doping Rule Violation during the 2014 Asian Games,” it said.
“Accordingly, the Olympic Council of Asia will return the gold medal to Ms. Zhang.”
