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Name: Zhou Chunxiu 
Date of Birth: November 15, 1978 in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

Entry for Beijing Games: women's marathon 

Major rivals: Paula Radcliffe (Britain), Catherine Ndereba (Kenya), Reiko Tosa (Japan) 

Career highlights: Winner, London Marathon, 2007; winner, Seoul Marathon, 2006; 33rd, Athens Games, 2004 

China's marathon ace Zhou Chunxiu is on a mission to clean up her sport's tarnished reputation after a series of doping scandals and suspensions at previous Olympics.

The Beijing Games will be China's best chance yet to win its first marathon gold medal, but 30-year-old Zhou knows she will have to overcome critics who have not forgotten long-distance running coach Ma Junren and his controversial 'army', who almost cost marathon its place in the Chinese sporting regime in the 1990s.

'Past is past,' Zhou told Sina.com at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, last year. 'I believe we have left the doping problems behind us. We have to show the world that we're capable of competing with the strongest opponents without drugs.'

Nowadays, any Chinese woman looking to reach the heights once scaled by Ma's athletes cannot merely run fast - they must also have credibility.
Zhou fits this standard. The runner from Jiangsu province is clear of any hint of a drug taint since turning pro in 2003 and - unlike some who complain about the scrutiny of drug tests - welcomes them with the same smile she wears after a win.
And Zhou is fast, too. Last year, she became the first Chinese to win the London Marathon, clocking two hours, 20 minutes and 38 seconds - the best time of the year. She also finished second at the worlds in Osaka, though she suffered a blow in April this year when she was finished second in the Beijing Marathon behind rising star Chen Rong. 

China boasted a number of long-distance runners in the mid-1990's in a group known as 'Ma's Army', who swept to a 1-2-3 finish in the 5,000m and took gold and silver in the 10,000m at the Stuttgart world championships in 1993. The highlight came at the Atlanta Games, where Ma's top runner, Wang Junxia, pocketed the 5,000m gold.

But six of Ma's top runners tested positive for drugs ahead of the Sydney Games, while none of his runners made China's team for the 2004 Athens Games.

Ma himself, who shot to fame for transforming unknown Chinese peasant women into champion athletes, was notorious for his temper, turtle blood tonics and high-altitude training. He is no longer in the sport, spending his days trading Tibetan dogs.

However, drugs grabbed the spotlight again when National Games champion Sun Yingjie was banned for two years following a positive drug test in 2005 after winning the Beijing Marathon.

Critics say doping is still rife among Chinese marathon runners given the punishing nature of the sport, a charge that Zhou strenuously denies.

'I promise you we will be clean at the Games,' she said. 'You cannot always look back. Chinese marathoners are now 100 per cent clean, and are among the most competitive teams in the world.'

Women's marathon is widely believed to be China's only shot at gold, beside 110m hurdler Liu Xiang, in track and field. But athletics officials are doing what they can to manage expectations.

'Our goal is to win a medal, not a gold medal,' said Wang Dawei, vice-director of the Chinese Track and Field Administrative Centre, the governing body of the sport.
'You cannot take it for granted that we have the London Marathon champion so we will win a gold medal at the Olympics. All of our rivals are making the best preparation they can. To win a gold, you've got to beat Paula Radcliffe, Japanese girls and also those African athletes, so I won't try to predict anything.'




No 23: Zhou Chunxiu