The battle between dope cheaters and testers has always been fierce, and it'll only get more intense in Beijing.

Ramped up tests, new equipments and a strong commitment to host a clean Games, Beijing is giving it all to restore the clean image of sport.

A total of 4,500 dope tests are planned for this Olympics, about 25 percent rise from Athens, which saw 26 doping cases.

The Games organizers have sent about 917 staff to work at 34 doping control stations to collect samples, which will be tested at a lab for about 200 banned substances, said Chen Zhiyu, anti-doping division chief of the Beijing Games organizing committee, last week.

"A clean Games doesn't mean that there will be no cheats, but we will make sure the drug-users are caught and penalized as they should be," he said.

In Beijing, the top five in the events and two randomly-selected athletes will be tested for banned substances like steroids and blood-boosters.

Enhanced tests will be carried out for erythropoietin (EPO), a protein hormone which raises oxygen-rich red blood cells, and human growth hormone (HGH), a substance that boosts strength and speeds recovery. Both are choice performance-enhancers.

A new test kit can now track the use of HGH beyond 48 hours, and the EPO tests are also reliable, said Wu Moutian, deputy director of the Chinese Anti-doping Agency, who oversees the lab.

Wu said he hopes the measures could deter potential cheaters.

Just weeks before the Games start on Aug. 8, about 15 to 17 drug cheats have been discovered.

"This is a result of a deliberate strategy and policy," said International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge.

"The IOC has asked the international federations to do a maximum of doping before the Olympic village has opened. I am pleased to see it's successful," he added.

The Olympic doping test period started from July 27, when the village was opened, and runs until the Games end.

Experts say athletes, especially the widely successful ones, will be placed under close scrutiny during this period.

With a state-of-art dope control system in place, the onus for a clean Games should be on the countries and the national federations to see that their athletes arrive clean, said John Fahey, chief of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Before the Games start, many countries have pledged to make sure their athletes are untainted by drugs.

Host country China has also played tough hands on dope use, giving out harsh punishment on those who failed the tests.

In May, a top backstroker Ouyang Kunpeng was banned for life for a failed test, even though he argued the substance may have been obtained through a hotpot meal with friends.

"Innocent or not, the results say it all. As professional athletes, they should be responsible for what they take in,"said Chen Zhiyu, the anti-doping chief.

The U.S. swimmer Hardy case was similar. She qualified for the Olympics but had to withdraw after being tested positive for a drug that she claimed she never heard of.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)