Really support
Independent journalism
Our mission is to provide unbiased, fact-based journalism that holds power accountable and exposes the truth.
Every donation counts, whether it’s $5 or $50.
Support us to deliver journalism without purpose.
Ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the 2024 swimming world has been thrown into turmoil by how the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) handled the positive test results from the Chinese swimming team.
The case, reported by The New York Times and German news outlet ARD, concerns 23 Chinese swimmers, 11 of whom are set to compete in the Paris Olympics, who tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine (TMZ) during a training camp seven months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The scandal has now spilled over into the Paris Olympics, with Chinese swimmers outraged at their rivals’ “tricks.”
According to NBC, many Chinese athletes are set to compete in the Paris Games, including Zhang Yufei, who won gold in the women’s 200m butterfly and 200m freestyle relay, and Wang Shun, who won gold in the men’s 200m individual medley. Significantly, the results were only revealed this year. The China Anti-Doping Agency (Chinada) claims that the athletes unintentionally took the substance due to contamination.
There have been accusations of a cover-up by some national associations, with China blasting the allegations as “fake news.” While doping agencies have cleared Chinese swimmers, anger has grown after they banned Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who claimed to TMZ she was tainted before competing in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Here’s how the scandal unfolded and what we know ahead of the Paris Olympics.
How did it start?
On April 22nd of this year, Wada provided a detailed account of the series of events since 2021, courtesy of his then-corporate counsel and former outside counsel, Ross Wenzel.
Wenzel said China’s anti-doping authorities collected 60 urine samples at a national swimming meet on January 3, 2021. On March 15, the China Doping Control Agency informed WADA that 28 positive tests had been found.
In May, the Chinese Athletics Association said traces of banned substances had been found in the hotel where all 23 athletes were staying, reportedly in spice containers in the hotel’s kitchen and drainage system.
On June 15, the association informed WADA that the positive tests were due to contamination and that it would not prosecute the athletes for doping violations.
What is Trimetazidine (TMZ)?
Trimetazidine (TMZ) can be used to treat angina and other heart-related conditions, and has been on the WADA banned substance list since 2014 due to its potential to improve endurance and blood flow.
How did they get into the Chinese swimmer’s hotel kitchen?
Wenzel said in his investigation that Chinada had not obtained individual testimony from the 23 Chinese swimmers about how the substance was found in their samples. Athletes who allege contamination typically must describe a potential or possible source of the contamination.
Wenzel said the Chinese Swimming Federation offered no hypothesis in its report as to why traces of banned heart medication were found in the kitchen of the hotel where the top swimmers were staying while competing.
“TMZ never found a conclusive source on how he got into the kitchen,” Wenzel said.
What did Wada do and what could he have done?
WADA officials said an investigation into the matter in China was not possible at the time because COVID-19 cases were widespread in the region.
According to Senda, who was staying at the same hotel, Wada investigated the situation and ruled out the possibility of microdosing, but insisted that only the players had tested positive.
“These players were all in the same place at the same time when their positive tests occurred, yet the sample results were consistently at low levels,” Wenzel said.
Wada also had the option of challenging Chinada at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but ultimately decided not to do so in July due to insufficient evidence and legal advice on whether the contamination explanation could be refuted.
He believed the athletes were innocent and did not make details of the case public before the Tokyo Olympics, where China’s 30-member swimming team won six medals, including three gold medals.
Why was this incident not made public?
“Due to the presumption of innocence, National Anti-Doping Organizations cannot find violations and are not required to publicly disclose details of the case. WADA will only publicly discuss the case if the China Doping Agency is willing to publicly discuss the case or take the case to the CAS.”
WADA president Witold Banka said: “It’s a question of whether we want to indict innocent athletes? We have to take into account that by publishing the names of athletes who have not violated anti-doping rules, we are potentially indicting innocent athletes and damaging their image. So this is a very important discussion and our role is also to protect innocent athletes.”
What did the independent investigation find?
The scandal led to an independent investigation which concluded that Heda had not shown any bias in relation to 23 Chinese swimmers who were allowed to compete in Tokyo in July 2024 despite testing positive for banned substances.
An interim report from Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier also said WADA had been reasonable in not appealing the Chinese association’s decision not to punish the athletes.
An addendum to Cottier’s report said WADA’s senior scientific and medical director, Olivier Rabin, “had doubts about the true extent of the contamination as described by the Chinese authorities”.
But no action was taken because “it was not possible to rule out a contamination scenario with any solid evidence”, and ultimately “we decided that there was no solution other than to accept it”.
Wada also explained that his decision not to appeal was based on advice from independent experts and outside legal counsel, but that he was “not in a position to refute” Chinada’s claims.
What was said?
The scandal has led swimmers Michael Phelps, Adam Peaty and Katie Ledecky to slam anti-doping agencies, fearing a loss of trust among athletes ahead of the biggest swimming event in four years.
Phelps said athletes can no longer trust WADA. “As athletes, we can no longer place our blind faith in the World Anti-Doping Agency, which continues to demonstrate it is unable or unwilling to enforce its policies consistently around the world,” he said.
“It is clear that WADA’s attempts at reform have fallen short and that deep-rooted systemic problems persist that repeatedly impact the integrity of international sport and athletes’ rights to compete fairly.”
Travis Tygart, CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), called the reports “shocking” and claimed the World and Chinese anti-doping associations “have been covering up these positive tests in secrecy until now.”
Fair Sport and Global Athlete argue that WADA’s process was “inherently flawed from the start because of its limited scope and independence.”
“Until all relevant documents are made public, confidence in the system will not be restored and WADA’s status as an international regulatory body will remain in question,” the joint statement added.
Allison Schmidt, who was part of the U.S. team that lost the gold medal to China in the 800-meter freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics, said, “We raced hard, practiced hard and followed all the protocols. We respected (China’s) performance and accepted the defeat. But now, knowing that China’s relay was made up of athletes who were not suspended, I look back with skepticism. We will never know the truth, and it may haunt many of us for years.”
What happens next?
WADA president Witold Banka welcomed the independent report and its conclusions, but said he would consider “what action can be taken against those who have made false and defamatory allegations” and argued the case was being used “as a geopolitical tool” in a wider conflict between China and the United States.
According to World Aquatics, Chinese swimmers will have undergone at least eight drug tests this year.
World Aquatics said that in 2024 “a certain number of athletes from certain countries will be tested four times by the Lausanne-based international testing laboratory that runs the anti-doping programmes for many Olympic sports.”
But the governing body added that Chinese athletes competing in Paris “will be subject to at least eight ITA tests during the same period”.
Ideally, the samples would not be carried out by Chinada and the tests would also be carried out in laboratories outside of China.
