The IAAF said on Friday that it would "investigate the authenticity of a letter signed by 10 Chinese athletes" that says a Chinese Olympic coach ran a systematic doping program up to the mid-'90s, according to Brenda Goh of REUTERS. Signatories to the 21-year-old letter, published for the first time on private news portal Tencent Sports, "included women's long-distance runner Wang Junxia, an Olympic champion and world record holder." The allegations in the document, which Chinese TV channel CCTV and other state media also reported, "date back" to before the IAAF presidency of Lamine Diack, who took over in '99. Reuters "could not independently confirm the authenticity of the letter and was unable to reach Wang or the coach the document named, Ma Junren." The letter, sent in March '95 to journalist Zhao Yu "but never previously publicised," suggests Ma ran a systematic doping program in China some two decades ago. Zhao was unable to be reached for comment. Wang, who was coached by Ma, said in the letter signed by her and nine others, "For many years, (Ma) forced us to take large doses of banned drugs, it was true" (REUTERS, 2/5). The BBC reported the IAAF said in a statement, "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." The IAAF said that under federation rules "any athlete who admits to taking a prohibited substance prior to achieving a world record could be stripped of his or her title." The Chinese Athletics Association "could not be reached for comment." Chinese news outlet Tencent Sport "published a series of reports on Wednesday on the doping allegations, which were then covered widely in state media" (BBC, 2/5).
