In the most recent series of drug-related news in track and field, “state-sponsored doping” has been revealed in a letter from World record-holder Wang Junxia of China.

In a letter that was written 19 years ago, two years after Junxia set two world records in the 3K and the 10K, she wrote about how the women on the Chinese team tried to “avoid the state-run doping regime by quietly throwing away pills that were forced on them,” according to a report from South China Morning News.

The letter chronicles Junxia and her fellow athletes’ experience of having their coach Ma Junren personally inject drugs into his athletes, who were collectively known as “Ma’s army.”

Junren’s group of middle distance and distance athletes set a number of world records in the 1990s. The coach is known for his unusual training regime, which included making athletes drink turtle blood and powdered seahorses.

The letter was signed by nine teammates and sent to journalist Zhao Yu 19 years ago, but it went unpublished until Tencent Sports posted it today. The Chinese news outlet reached out to the International Association of Athletics Federations which is reportedly investigating Junxia’s allegations.

“For many years, [he] forced us to take a large dose of illegal drugs. It was true,” said the team members in the letter.

“Our feelings are sorry and complex when exposing his (Ma’s) deeds. We are also worried that we would harm our country’s fame and reduce the worth of the gold medals we have worked very hard to get,” the letter continued.

Junxia became World Champion in the 10K at the 1993 Championships, and later won Olympic gold in the 5K at the 1996 Games. She also captured a silver medal in the 10K at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

Junxia’s world records in the 3K and 10K were run at the National Games of China in 1993. Over the course of five days, Junxia broke three world records — the 1500m was run on Sept. 11, the 3K was run on Sept. 13, and the 10K was run on Sept. 8. Her 1500m performance at the meet would have broken the then-world record, but her opponent Qu Yunxia beat her in 3:50.46, which stood until Genzebe Dibaba broke the record this year. 

Junxia’s preliminary performances at the meet also raised eyebrows as she ran 4:01.55 in the preliminaries of the 1500m on Sept. 9, 3:51.92 in the final on Sept. 11, 8:12.19 in the preliminary of the 3K on Sept. 12, and a world record 8:06.11 in the final of the 3K on Sept. 13. She accomplished these results just two days after running a world record of 29:31 in the 10K on Sept. 8. Her 10K performance broke the previous world record by 42 seconds. 

“The IAAF’s first action must be to verify that the letter is genuine,” said IAAF spokesperson Chris Turner. “In this respect, the IAAF has asked the Chinese Athletics Association to assist it in that process.”

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency regulations, Junxia's admission could result in disqualification from meets, ineligibility, and financial sanctions.