China's former No 1 distance runner Sun Yingjie split from her former coach Wang Dexian after he allegedly whipped her with a belt, leaving serious scars.

The 2003 World Championships bronze medallist of women's 10,000m made claims on CCTV on Tuesday.

Sun, 27, is currently serving a two-year suspension after testing positive for an illegal substance at last year's National Games while her coach Wang suffered a life ban.

Sun's ban ends in October next year but continued to train under Wang this year in a bid to compete at the Beijing Olympics.

Sun told CCTV she was commonly beaten and scolded by Wang. "He beat me with a belt after I contradicted his wife. It is the most ruthless since I started training with him more than 10 years ago," he said.

"My back hurt so much that I can not tolerate at all," said Sun, who is now training solo in Yunnan province, a popular training area because if its high sea level.

"My back is covered with so many cuts and bruises that I can not even take off my clothes. My collarbone was also torn."

"I know he brought me up and developed me into to a high-level athlete. I will never forget that.

"But since the result of positive test, there are more and more collisions between us. I cannot keep the relationship any more."

According to the Beijing News, Wang had not seen Sun's comments and refused to make any further comment.

"I have nothing to do with her. I have been banned. Whether she trains or not, I do not care," he told the newspaper. However Wang's wife Zhu Fengling denied any wrongdoing.

"Sun left us in August. We did not beat her. What she said is nonsense," said Zhu, also a coach of Sun's former team.

Sun's accusation is the latest in a series of outbursts targeting Wang. Three of her former team-mates have sued Wang for allegedly embezzling wages and bonuses. The matter has yet to appear in court.

(China Daily October 12, 2006)