Chinese race walker Song Hongjuan's coach was banned for four years after the athlete failed a drugs test, state media said on Monday, in the latest doping scandal to hit China ahead of the Olympic Games. Officials announced on Saturday that Song, who took part in the last Olympics in Athens, was banned for four years after testing positive for erythropoietin, or EPO, in an out-of-competition test in Beijing in February. Zhang Yongliang, an official at the Chinese Athletic Association, said on Monday Song's coach was also banned for the same amount of time “according to Chinese anti-doping rules,” the official Xinhua news agency reported. The regulations stipulate that if athletes violate anti-doping rules, their coaches or doctors will also be punished for the offense, according to Xinhua. __
