Swimmer Sent Packing

A Chinese swimmer and coach were sent home from the World Championships in Perth, Australia, after tests confirmed the athlete tried to import a banned growth hormone.

A substance found in swimmer Yuan Yuan’s baggage “is or contains a growth hormone - it is a prohibited import,” Australian Customs Minister Warren Truss said.

Yuan, a 1994 World Championship silver medalist, who could be banned internationally for four years, was told to leave, along with coach Zhou Zewen.

The German government rejected as “absurd” demands that former East German athletes be stripped of their Olympic medals and world titles because of drug use.

Interior Minister Manfred Kanther’s angry reaction was prompted by the case of chief German swimming coach Winfried Leopold, who had his accreditation taken away at the World Championships in Perth before it was returned at the orders of an Australian court.