Taiwan baseball player Chang Tai-shan, who failed a dope test before the Beijing Olympics, had been taking fertility medication, Chang told an International Baseball Federation (IBAF) hearing yesterday.
The infielder was suspended from play on Wednesday after testing positive for a banned substance and sat out his team's opening Olympic win over the Netherlands. He apologised to the baseball federation at his hearing.
"Chang told the hearing he had been married for more than nine years and had been unable to reproduce, so in 2007 he saw a doctor, who diagnosed him with infertility, and he began to accept medication," Taiwan's Olympic Committee delegation said.
'Insane Usain' dazzles world
Usain Bolt's extraordinary Olympics 100 metres run sparked a flood of superlatives in newspapers across the world, ranging from the new messiah of speed to the chilled-out flying machine.
Bolt was crowned the fastest man in the world at the Beijing Olympics after a record 9.69-seconds run, celebrating before even reaching the finishing line.
"Oh, what a show. Oh, what a show-off too," said an editorial in the Chicago Tribune.
"How fast can a guy go? This is not the question to ask the U-Bolt. The question is this: How fast could U have gone if U hadn't hit the brakes? If U hadn't slowed down? If U hadn't clowned around?"
His rivals were calling the gangling 6 ft 5 ins (196 cm) runner a freak of nature and bloggers nicknamed him "Insane Usain".
Greek champ fails test
Greece's defending Olympic women's 400 metres hurdles champion Fani Halkia has failed a drugs test and faces an immediate disciplinary investigation by the IOC.
An official said the athlete had been tested a day before boarding the plane to Japan and that test was negative so any banned substance was introduced in her body in Japan.
Halkia's A sample tested positive for methyltrienolone, better known as M3, a banned steroid, and her B sample would be tested in Beijing. The IOC said it did not have to wait for the results of the B sample to investigate whether there was a violation of an anti-doping rule.
The Greek hurdler confirmed her test was positive and said she was shocked by the news, denying any wrongdoing.
Halkia, who has been ordered out of the athletes' village, denied she had taken performance-enhancing drugs, saying she was clean and expected to be tested during the Aug. 8-24 Games.
"I can't believe it ... When I was told I tested positive I thought it was a joke," Halkia told Greek reporters in Beijing.
Mums put through their paces
Mothers of the world, stand up and applaud British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe and US swimmer Dara Torres who both competed at the Olympics yesterday.
Radcliffe, 34, the world record holder, and Torres, the oldest US swimmer at 41, are among the rising number of women athletes with children competing at Beijing, proving babies don't spell the end for elite sportswomen.
Radcliffe, who was training 12 days after giving birth to daughter Isla in January 2007, missed out on an Olympic medal for the fifth time yesterday but Torres snapped up two silver medals in the pool before turning her attention back to her two-year-old daughter Tessa.
"The other girls were talking about going to Bali, but I get back on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday morning I have to take my daughter to school," she said.
Too many volunteers says Dunga
Brazil coach Dunga, already unhappy at the food, pitch and training arrangements for his team, has added volunteers to his gripes.
The famously grumpy former World Cup captain has found little to smile about, despite his team's progress to the semi-finals, and the prospect of staying in the Olympic village for tomorrow's match against Argentina failed to excite him.
"We have got to get there first to see how everything is," said Dunga, whose team beat Cameroon 2-0 in extra-time in Saturday's quarter-final in Shenyang. "There's no problem as long as our resting and eating times are respected.
"But we could do with fewer volunteers, there are too many around."
'Learn when to clap'
Chinese state media appealed to fans to stop cheering inappropriately during competition time, urging them to present a good image to the world.
Enthusiastic Chinese fans have often clapped at wrong moments during gymnastics and tennis, breaking the usual etiquette with which tennis is watched.
Some players have said it affected their concentration, and the Xinhua news agency called for it to stop.
It went on to explain how sudden applause or noise could affect athletes' concentration in sports such as tennis and gymnastics, potentially affecting their chances of winning a medal.
Ultimately, Xinhua said, spectators' behaviour was a reflection of the country's level of civilisation.