BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese race walker has been kicked off the Olympic team after failing a drug test, an official newspaper said.

 Liu Yunfeng, who was China's top prospect in the men's 20-kilometer walk, tested positive July 13, the China Daily said Saturday.

 Liu's fate hinges on the result of tests on a second sample, the newspaper said. It did not identify the drug found in Liu's first sample and did not say when the second result was expected.

 If Liu's positive test is confirmed, the head coach of China's race walking team, Zhang Fuxin, also could be prevented from going to Sydney, the China Daily said.

 It quoted Zhang as saying he knew nothing about Liu's suspected drug taking. Liu made remarkable improvements in competitions this year, but "there has been nothing abnormal in any postmatch tests," the newspaper quoted the coach as saying.

 A spokesman for the Chinese Athletics Association said that before Liu's second sample is tested, "we cannot decide whether Zhang was responsible for his team member Liu Yunfeng's suspected drug taking," the China Daily reported.