First doping case surfaces, high-profile sprinting showdown looms
9/9/2008 17:56
Pakistani powerlifter Naveed Ahmed Butt became the first athlete caught
for doping offense at the Beijing Paralympics, while a dozen of sparkling
sporting performances are expected to come today.
Butt, 37, had been kicked
out of the Games after testing positive for methandienone metabolites, a
steroid, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said in a statement. He
also received a two-year ban.
The urine sample was taken on September 4 in
Beijing, two days before the opening ceremony, the IPC said.
In the Athens
2004 Paralympics, 680 doping tests were conducted and 10 violations emerged. The
IPC planned to carry out 1,100 tests at the Beijing Paralympics.
A total of
61 gold medal events are scheduled for Day Three, the most in any single day
during the 11-day Games.
In sports action, a high-profile sprinting showdown
looms at the Bird's Nest stadium in the evening with American defending champion
Brian Frasure meeting "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius in the 100m in their
classification category.
In the pool, Daniel Dias of Brazil and Jessica Long
of the United States, with two gold medals each, will go after the podium top
again today, and Chinese amputee swimmer Wang Xiaofu will compete in the men's
S8 100m butterfly to continue his quest of winning eight gold medals in
Beijing.
Athletes will compete over 11 days in 20 sports in five different
categories of disability, with a total of 472 gold medals at stake.
The
Paralympics end on Sept. 17.
Xinhua
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