Ondieki will not race Chinese

Lisa Ondieki, the 1992 New York marathon winner and an Olympic silver medallist for Australia, is refusing to compete against Chinese athletes because she believes their times are drug-assisted. "If they get rid of them OK, otherwise it would be a waste of time," she said.

Ondieki won the 10,000 meters in a time of 31m 47.11sec at a meeting in Melbourne on Thursday. The world record of 29:31.78 was set last year by Wang Junxia of China. "It's a joke that a woman can run 29:30 for 10,000 metres," Ondieki said.

A top Chinese sports official has acknowledged some coaches may have provided drugs to Chinese athletes. "I feel there should be some officials involved," Wei Jizhong, secretary general of the Chinese national Olympic committee, said.

n Ma Junren, the 51-year-old coach to China's record-breaking women runners known as Ma's Army, has said that he has throat cancer.