Mysterious withdrawal of Chinese weightlifters

Mystery surrounded the late withdrawal yesterday of high-profile Chinese weightlifters Shi Zhiyong and Cui Wenhua from the Olympic competition.

Asian 62kg champion Shi and Cui, a former world champion in the 105kg snatch division, were among a handful of competitors withdrawn or omitted from the Olympics when the official draw was made.

Greek duo Leonidas Kokas, a 91kg silver medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and Georgios Tzelilis, runner-up in last year's world championships in the 69kg division, were also taken out of the competition with no reason given immediately to the International Weightlifting Federation.

"The four lifters were withdrawn by delegates from their countries at the technical committee meeting, which preceded the draw today," Jeno Boskovics, an IWF technical delegate, said.