Chinese national marathon champion hit with 8-year ban for doping

Chinese National Games marathon champion Wang Jiali was given an eight-year ban by the country's governing body of the sport on Tuesday, as she was found positive in an out-of-competition doping test.

File photo of Wang Jiali. [Photo: IC]

According to the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA), the 31-year-old Wang was tested positive for EPO by the country's anti-doping agency on August 9, 2017, four months after she claimed the marathon gold medal at the 13th Chinese National Games. And her B sample suggested the same outcome.

Since it was the second time for Wang to violate the doping rules, the CAA decided to ban her for eight years and also give her a fine of 40,000 yuan (some 6,100 US dollars). Wang's coach Lu Qiang was handed a life ban and fined for 80,000 yuan.

Wang became the first Chinese athlete caught via the biological passport program in 2013 and banned for two years after anomalies were discovered in her biological passport.

She has notched a series of titles since debuting on marathon in 2007, including the 2010 Beijing Marathon, 2011 Dalian Marathon and 2012 Chongqing Marathon, in which she set her career best of 2 hours, 22 minutes and 41 seconds.

Wang also finished eighth at the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, and took 57th place at the Olympic Games in the following year in London.