Top 11 Running Doping Scandals Of All Time

2. Ma’s Army (China)

Ma’s Army was the name of the Chinese group that participated in the different competitions, led by coach Ma Junren. In this scandal, there was never definite proof that doping was somehow involved, but even so, the consequences were huge. Back in 1993, when people started doubting about the performance of one of the female runners and demanding for drug tests, before any of that could happen, some of the runners mutinied against Junren because of the strict exercise regime, which apparently involved exotic diets, extreme workouts, athletes couldn’t even have boyfriends, and deserted the team. In 2000, 27 members of China’s Olympic team, including 6 trained by Ma Junren were taken out before they could even compete at the Sydney Olympics, apparently in fear of the recently approved blood testing, which could detect the use of EPO.