On Saturday, it was revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers, including gold medalists and world record holders, tested positive for banned substances in 2021 but were never punished, ending a potentially explosive doping scandal shocked the Olympic swimming world.
After three years of silence, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has acknowledged the positive tests, but China’s anti-doping agency insists that all 23 swimmers were innocent because they unknowingly ingested small amounts of the substance. Supported doping agencies.
However, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) “secretly” condemned WADA and its Chinese counterpart. [sweeping] These positive factors are swept under the carpet. ” An investigation by The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD raised questions about WADA’s handling of the matter and an alleged cover-up.
USADA CEO Travis Tygart called the findings “shocking” and “shocking,” saying in strong words that clean athletes “have been deeply and painfully betrayed by the system.” mentioned in.
WADA hit back at what it deemed “misleading and potentially defamatory media reporting” and threatened legal action. (China’s anti-doping authority, CHINADA, also called the report “misleading”.)
Details of China’s doping scandal
All of the positive tests occurred at a domestic competition that brought together China’s top swimmers eight months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
According to the Times, China conducted 60 tests on a total of 39 swimmers at the Shijiazhuang Games. 28 out of 60 samples taken from 23 different swimmers contained traces of trimetazidine, the same heart drug at the center of the case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, commonly known as TMZ. It was.
More than two months later, on March 15, 2021, China informally reported the positive test, but asked swimming’s world governing body to “keep the athlete’s information and the incident strictly confidential.” In the same March 15 email obtained and reported by the Times, a senior Chinese government official claimed that “initial and preliminary investigations indicate that these are not normal.” [positives]”
Three months later, in June, one month before the Tokyo Games, China told WADA that 23 swimmers had tested positive “after being inadvertently exposed to the substance due to contamination.” I told you. Specifically, according to the Times and ARD, China produced a 61-page report in which the government agency, China’s Ministry of Public Security, investigated and investigated kitchen vents, spice containers and sink drains. He said he found traces of TMZ. Kayo Holiday Hotel, where the swimmers were staying during the tournament in question.
WADA said it had “carefully considered the decision” and “gathered additional unpublished scientific information regarding TMZ and consulted with independent scientific experts to test the contamination theory.” However, it has never sent its own scientists or researchers to China. WADA said in a statement on Saturday that it was “not possible” to do so due to “extreme” coronavirus-related restrictions.
Ultimately, WADA “concluded that it was not in a position to disprove the possibility that the contamination was the source of TMZ,” the agency said. WADA also said China’s explanation was “consistent with the analytical data in the file.” Therefore, all 23 swimmers were tested and no positive tests were made public.
Which Chinese swimmers tested positive?
According to ARD, 13 of the 23 swimmers participated in the Tokyo Olympics. Four people won medals, including three gold medals. (ARD released the names of all 23 of her names.)
According to ARD and the Times, among those who tested positive were:
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Zhang Yufei was a 23-year-old star athlete at the time, winning gold in the 200m butterfly, silver in the 100m butterfly, and contributing to medals in two relays, one of which set a world record.
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Wang Shun is a veteran who won the 200m individual medley, becoming the second Chinese male swimmer to win an Olympic individual gold medal.
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Although Qin Haiyang did not win a medal at the Tokyo Games, she set a world record in the 200m breaststroke in 2023.
China’s most famous swimmer, Sun Yang, was not among the 23 participants. He was and still is serving a long ban for a separate doping incident. (In a third, unrelated incident in 2014, Sun also tested positive for TMZ and was suspended for three months.)
US authorities and WADA clash
In the months and years that followed, whistleblowers raised concerns with the International Inspection Agency (ITA) and USADA.
The ITA, another Olympic-adjacent anti-doping agency established in response to Russia’s state-sponsored doping program, brought these concerns to WADA in 2022 and launched its own investigation, which is still ongoing. ing.
USADA also reported in 2023 that TMZ positive cases were hidden in China. However, WADA refused to re-investigate. The paper said Saturday that USADA’s “information was clearly incorrect.” The report points out that in 2020, USADA also “contacted WADA regarding allegations of a doping cover-up (again from an unspecified source) in the Chinese swimming industry,” and added, “These allegations have (again) been fully clarified. There is no basis for this and WADA recommends the following. We do not meet the criteria to begin an investigation. ”
USADA CEO Tygart disagreed with the tone of WADA’s statement and issued a second statement on Saturday. “It is disappointing to see WADA succumb to intimidation and intimidation tactics when faced with blatant violations of the rules governing anti-doping,” he said.
“Despite blowing away their rhetoric, the facts remain as reported. WADA provisionally suspended athletes, disqualified results, and failed to publicize the positives,” Tygart continued. “Even if we accept their story that this is contamination, that powerful drugs ‘magically appeared’ in the kitchen and that 23 elite Chinese swimmers tested positive, these A terrible failure.”
China incident deepens distrust in anti-doping
Tygart, athletes and other clean sports advocates pounced on WADA’s choice to keep positive information quiet until journalists came calling three years later.
‘Why didn’t you release this information at the time?’ British swimmer Adam Peaty asked about X. “Who really benefits from the lack of transparency and secrecy?”
Greg Meehan, head coach of USA Swimming’s 2021 Women’s Olympic Team, said in a statement: “The lack of complete transparency and inconsistent response to positive tests by WADA and the Chinese national team is appalling.” I wrote to X. (He also noted that “it’s no coincidence that the timing of these events coincides with the fact that Beijing was about to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.”)
Anti-doping procedures typically require disclosure, temporary suspension, and further investigation. WADA followed these protocols less than a year ago during the 2022 Winter Olympics, when Valieva tested positive for the same drug and her story was brought to the public eye.
Valieva, like the Chinese, claimed that she had ingested the drug unknowingly. Like China, Russia’s anti-doping agency sided with Valieva and cleared her. But in this case, WADA fought back, appealing Russia’s decision and conducting a thorough investigation. Two years later, the Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended Valieva for four years.
In exceptional circumstances, public disclosure is not required, but such circumstances will usually include evidence of contamination. In the case of China, WADA had no evidence of contamination. The company simply said it was “not in a position to disprove that possibility.”
The company’s excuse for not conducting its own on-site investigation in 2021 was valid. This is consistent with the oft-discussed concern that coronavirus-related restrictions may make the global anti-doping agency vulnerable to abuse. The system relies on “in-competition” testing at international events, many of which have been canceled due to the pandemic. And about the anti-doping agencies of each country, which WADA has had a hard time cracking down on due to travel bans.
But WADA’s reluctance to seek further evidence, mixed with its opacity, has increased suspicion and mistrust.
Meanwhile, the FBI is also reportedly interested. The Times said U.S. law enforcement agencies were made aware of the incident and took steps to gather further information. Under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice has the authority to prosecute foreign nationals who corrupt international sports by doping.
Whether or not U.S. authorities pursue the case, the issue will loom over the 2024 Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26, when Zhang was expected to compete for more medals.
