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Olympic champ Wang expelled from team

Wang Meng (C) skates against Park Seung-Hi (L) of South Korea and Katerine Reutter of the United States in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. UPI/Brian Kersey
Wang Meng (C) skates against Park Seung-Hi (L) of South Korea and Katerine Reutter of the United States in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. UPI/Brian Kersey | License Photo

BEIJING, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Wang Meng, 26, China's four-time Winter Olympics champion, was expelled from her speed skating team for a brawl with her team manager, officials said.

"Wang Meng is expelled from the national team and is banned from international competitions as her conduct has violated the team's disciplines and jeopardized the sport's image," said a statement from China's General Administration of Sport, state media reported.

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The country's most decorated Winter Olympics athlete had earlier been suspended for the July 24 incident at a training camp in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao. She was accused of punching her team manager, Wang Chunlu, when criticized for failing to return on time to the camp after a night out with five teammates, the reports said.

The sports administration also expelled male speed skater Liu Xianwei, who was alleged to have stirred things up prior to the Wang incident.

The other four teammates were permitted to continue training but told to write confessions, China Daily reported.

Other skaters protested, saying the expulsion of Wang without any punishment to the team manager was unfair.

Wang won three gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She won one gold, one silver and one bronze in Turin, Italy, in 2006.

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