Territory athletes put on herbal medicine alert
Hong Kong's Olympic athletes are under strict instructions to avoid taking medication without consulting medical staff.
Julian Chang, one of two doctors accompanying the Hong Kong team to Atlanta, said the biggest threat comes from herbal medicines, many of which contain performance-enhancing substances banned by the International Olympic Committee.
'A lot of Hong Kong athletes like to take herbal medication and we have told them not to do so on their own without consultation,' Chang said.
'We will be taking medication with us for a variety of common ailments so there is no need for athletes to act on their own.
'Anyway, I think all the athletes and coaches are well-educated in the risks of taking banned substances.' Chang said that drug-taking is unlikely to be a problem for Hong Kong.
'It's not like other countries where success in sport means more monetary reward and sponsorship deals,' Chang said. 'In Hong Kong, there is no real way of getting rich for being good at a sport, so there is not much of an incentive for local athletes to turn to drugs.' The Hong Kong Sports Institute recently introduced random drug testing for local athletes.
So far, all the tests conducted have been negative.
Samples taken in Hong Kong were sent to an IOC-accredited testing laboratory in Beijing, China.
