Chinese Volleyball Player Tests Positive

A Chinese volleyball player has been disqualified from the Olympics after becoming the first athlete who competed at Barcelona to test positive for drugs, a spokeswoman said today.

Wu Dan, a striker on China’s women’s team, tested positive for strychnine, a stimulant, said Michele Verdier of the International Olympic Committee.

Wu said the strychnine must have been contained in herbal medicine she had taken as a tonic.

On Monday, the IOC said all 1,049 drug tests carried out in Barcelona were negative. Those tests covered competition through Saturday.

Several athletes who tested positive for drugs were banned from the Games before they began.