1 Dual world record holder Wang Junxia and a teammate have taken over coaching responsibilities of the women's team informally known 'Ma's Army,' an official newspaper reported Friday.
2 The report in the China Sports Daily did not mention their former coach, the flamboyant and controversial Ma Junren, who catapulted to fame in 1993 when Wang and several teammates broke a string of world records.
3 Last December, Wang, who holds the 3,000- and 10,000-meter world records, led a mass walkout from Ma's training complex to protest their coach's excessive discipline and because of a dispute over prize money.
4 Ma is suffering from throat cancer and is recuperating from injuries sustained in a car accident in late December. Previous reports said sports officials were looking for a replacement, but it was not clear if the new coaching arrangement with Wang and Zhang Linli was permanent.
5 The report said Wang and Zhang were training the 12-woman team, seven of whom were preparing for an international marathon scheduled for early March in Beijing.
6 However, the team roster did not include two other Ma's Army stars: Qu Yunxia, the 1,500-meter record holder, and Liu Dong. The paper did not explain their absence. Liu left the team more than a year ago over disputes with Ma over the length of her hair and her relationship with her boyfriend, but recently was reported to have rejoined the team.
7 In accordance with a recent government decision, the paper did not refer to the team as 'Ma's Army.' Instead, the team appears to have a new nickname, 'the Scuds,' after the missiles used during the Gulf War. The missiles' name in Chinese means 'hairy flying legs.'
8 The report said the team undergoes rigorous training for two hours each morning before breakfast, followed by supplementary exercises until noon. At 3 p.m., they do 2 1-2 hours more of rigorous training, the paper said without giving details.

Dual world record holder Wang Junxia and a teammate have taken over coaching responsibilities of the women ' s team informally known " Ma ' s Army , " an official newspaper reported Friday .
informally
does the team have a formal name? where are they from?