A top Chinese sports official says athletes, coaches and team doctors must pass a written exam on banned substances ahead of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as part of the countrys zero-tolerance stance on doping.Vice director of the General Administration of Sports Gao Zhidian told the official Xinhua News Agency on Thursday that only those scoring 80 percent or more will be permitted to go to Rio.Olympics-bound athletes and coaches are also required to sign pledges not to cheat, with Gao saying violators would be severely punished.China has been firmly against doping and has a zero-tolerance approach to this particular problem, said Gao, who is also deputy chef de mission of Chinas 711-member Olympic delegation. We have made it very clear that we want to ensure fair play and the well-being of athletes.China has sought to shake off a reputation for doping, particularly in distance running and swimming, that gave rise to multiple scandals in the 1990s.That resolve was questioned when it emerged that officials waited six months before revealing that champion swimmer Sun Yang served a three-month suspension after testing positive in May 2014. Sun, the gold medalist in the 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics, was named male swimmer of the meet at the world championships in Kazan, Russia, in August.China is sending 416 athletes to Rio, including 35 former Olympic champions. China topped the table at the 2008 Games and won the second-most medals in London, including 38 golds.Based on recent performances by Chinese athletes, some studies predict the country could return to the top of the table at Rio with as many as 39 golds.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Rickey Henderson Jersey .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Miguel Diaz Jersey . Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz were sent to Toronto on Saturday as the Maple Leafs traded defenceman Jesse Blacker and draft picks to the Anaheim Ducks. https://www.cheappadresjerseys.us/993m-graig-nettles-jersey-padres.html . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. Eric Hosmer Jersey . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. Steve Garvey Jersey . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration.RALEIGH, N.C. -- The attorney for a former North Carolina womens basketball academic counselor and faculty member who is accused by the NCAA of wrongdoing is pushing back against the charge -- and the investigative process itself.Randall Roden, who represents Jan Boxill, filed a 54-page response this week to an NCAA charge that Boxill provided improper academic assistance to athletes.That was one of five charges against UNC tied to its long-running academic fraud scandal. Rodens response included a letter to the NCAA complaining of an impossibly burdensome and fundamentally unfair process for gathering and reviewing evidence in the case.Namely, the response states, Boxill has consistently been denied access to the database of her own emails at the center of the charges.They just showed her [emails] that nobody could possibly remember -- it was 10 years old -- and she says, I dont know, it could be this, it might be that, Roden said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press.Well, they were satisfied. Thats all they needed to know. She sent the email, they jumped to a conclusion based on what it says on the email about what happened and shes never [been] given a fair opportunity to explain what it really was.The NCAA gives schools and individual parties named for violations 90 days to respond to charges outlined in a Notice of Allegations (NOA). Thats often tougher for individuals compared to a school working with compliance staffers and outside attorneys.That creates somewhat of a double burden, said Stu Brown, an Atlanta-based attorney who has worked with schools on infractions cases. It tends to necessitate the hiring of personal legal counsel and that can be extremely expensive when you think of just the number of documents and number of pages of things that have to be looked at just for somebody to get up to speed on the case.Both UNC and Boxill filed responses Monday and released them publicly Tuesday. The NCAA enforcement staff has 60 days to respond, which would eventually lead to a hearing with an infractions committee panel.Among its arguments, UNC stated its accredittation agency -- not the NCAA -- was the proper authority to handle issues related to irregular courses with significant athlete enrollments in the formerly named African and Afro-American Studies (AFAM) department.dddddddddddds for Boxill, the NOA cited 18 incidents between February 2003 and July 2010, such as making changes for athletes to use in papers, suggesting a course grade and providing an athlete with a completed quiz for one of Boxills courses.The former philosophy professor and faculty chairwoman retired in 2015 after UNC began taking steps to fire her following a 2014 outside investigation that detailed the AFAM irregularities.Roden said many of Boxills charges are due to email exchanges taken out of context. He said they had since cobbled together more details by talking to former students involved and sifting through thousands of emails released publicly through records requests.As an example, Roden said the quiz in question was a take-home assignment used to spur class discussion. A student emailed her answers to Boxill seeking help. Boxill spoke with her to explain the response didnt answer the posed question, and replied by email change it or fill in as you wish for the student to make her own changes, according to the response.Asked about the complaints in Boxills response, UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham said Tuesday the school has been very cooperative with the NCAA and anyone else who has asked.Weve been open and transparent in everything that we have done, Cunningham said. And Ill let her response speak for itself. But weve done everything we can, that we think is appropriate for the institution and those that we represent.Roden said Boxill focused on helping students be successful in life and graduate, not stay eligible to compete.Shes 77 years old. Shes not going to work for another NCAA-regulated institution, Roden said. So theres nothing they can do to her. This is about trying to clear her name. Thats why were doing this. ' ' '