Zhang Yufei of the Chinese team participating in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Zhang won four medals, including two gold, at the Tokyo Olympics and is one of 23 Chinese swimmers currently embroiled in a doping scandal.
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Zhang Yufei of the Chinese team participating in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Zhang won four medals, including two gold, at the Tokyo Olympics and is one of 23 Chinese swimmers currently embroiled in a doping scandal.
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Officials at the world’s leading sports anti-doping agency scrambled Monday to contain a scandal in which 23 elite Chinese and Olympic swimmers tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
The scandal relates to positive doping tests taken in 2021 that were never made public by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Chinese authorities, with less than 100 days until the Paris Summer Games.
“There was no evidence of wrongdoing,” WADA President Witold Banka said at a press conference with reporters who often became combative.
“Every step of the way, WADA followed all due process and investigated diligently. If I had to do it all over again, I would do exactly the same thing.”
Banka went on to say that the Chinese athletes were “innocent” and that “this is not a doping case involving cheaters.”
He said WADA had no obligation to suspend them from competition or report the matter to sports officials in other countries.
But critics said the scandal suggested a “possible cover-up” and raised troubling questions about the integrity of the international testing regime aimed at keeping Olympic sports clean.
“It’s shocking to see 23 Chinese swimmers test positive for powerful performance-enhancing drugs on the eve of the 2021 Olympics.” [in Tokyo]” said Travis Tygart, director of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, known as USADA.
World Anti-Doping Agency President Witold Banka said there was “no evidence of foul play”. “Every step of the way, WADA followed all due process and investigated diligently. If I had to do it all over again, I would do exactly the same thing.”
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World Anti-Doping Agency President Witold Banka said there was “no evidence of foul play”. “Every step of the way, WADA followed all due process and investigated diligently. If I had to do it all over again, I would do exactly the same thing.”
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Tygart added in a statement: “It is even more shocking to learn that the World Anti-Doping Agency and the China Anti-Doping Agency have been secretly sweeping these positive things under the carpet until now.”
WADA has confirmed that around 20 Chinese swimmers tested positive for drugs in June 2021. Ahead of the Tokyo Games.
At a press conference on Monday, WADA officials said the 60 urine samples were actually carried out by Chinese sports officials several months earlier, at a swim meet in January 2021.
After months of delays, the Chinese presented WADA with a theory that the athletes had been accidentally contaminated with a powerful performance-enhancing drug called trimetazidine, also known as TMZ.
According to Chinese authorities, trace amounts of TMZ were detected in the kitchen of the hotel where the swimmers were staying.
There are also voices of skepticism about China’s explanation.
It is not explained how TMZ, a controlled substance, got into the kitchen or reached the athlete.
WADA officials also confirmed on Monday that they did not conduct an independent field investigation, but instead used samples and data provided by China.
In the end, they accepted China’s explanation that there was no intentional wrongdoing. Additionally, WADA said the coronavirus pandemic has complicated its efforts to enter China for a more thorough investigation.
“Feedback from WADA’s scientific department is that [accidental] “Not only was the contamination scenario plausible, but there were no concrete factors that called it into question,” said WADA’s Chief Counsel Ross Wenzel at a press conference.
July 30, 2021: China’s Wang Shun celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men’s 200m individual medley swimming final at the Tokyo Olympics. His name is on a list of players who have reportedly tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
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July 30, 2021: China’s Wang Shun celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men’s 200m individual medley swimming final at the Tokyo Olympics. His name is on a list of players who have reportedly tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
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WADA officials said that given the circumstances of the incident, the International Doping Code does not require them to warn other athletes about the test or investigation, nor does it require them to suspend the Chinese athlete. said.
Despite this explanation, the incident has sparked outrage around the world.
British swimmer James Guy, who won two gold medals in Tokyo and will compete again in Paris, condemned the Chinese swimmer who tested positive in a statement posted on social media.
“Ban everything and never compete again.” Guy wrote to X.
Meanwhile, the head of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement that the timing of the revelations was distressing for athletes.
“Recent doping allegations cast a shadow of uncertainty as we face a global crisis. [Paris] “The Olympic and Paralympic cycle challenges the very nature of fair competition,” said USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland.
In an interview with NPR, USADA’s Tygart questioned the validity of China’s explanation that the positive TMZ tests were the result of accidental exposure.
“Perhaps part of the rationale is [for a cover-up] “No one will believe this pollution theory, and you can’t follow the rules because it’s a crazy theory and no one will believe it,” Tygart said.
Another Olympics, another high-profile doping scandal
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva used trimetazidine ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, a violation that ultimately resulted in Valieva being banned from international competition for four years.
In this incident as well, the delay in notifying Valieva of her positive drug test caused controversy and threw the Beijing Games into turmoil.
Nine American skaters won belated gold medals. Two years later, they are still waiting for the official awards ceremony.
Critics now say WADA and China should have immediately notified sports officials in other countries of the swimmer’s testing.
The behind-the-scenes investigation was first published by The New York Times and German news agency ARD, which aired a German-language television documentary about the incident and published a complete list of Chinese players who allegedly tested positive. was announced.
The list also includes star swimmers Zhang Yufei and Wang Shun, who won gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics. Both are expected to compete again at this summer’s Paris Olympics.
In an interview with German news agency DPA, German Interior Minister Nancy Feser called for an investigation into the incident.
“If it is confirmed that a Chinese swimmer can become an Olympic champion in Tokyo despite past evidence of doping, it would be a disaster for world sport,” Feser said.
“This incident is a slap in the face to all innocent and honest athletes.”
Confusion among drug inspectors in countdown to Paris
The China Anti-Doping Agency, known as CHADA, also pushed back over the weekend against the growing allegations of cheating.
In a statement published by the Chinese government’s Xinhua News Agency, CHADA officials said their investigation found that the amount of TMZ in Chinese swimmers was “extremely low.”
“WADA agreed with our conclusions after a thorough review,” the group said.
Meanwhile, WADA slammed its critics in a strongly worded statement threatening legal action, calling the accusations of misconduct “outrageous, completely false and defamatory.”
“WADA at all times followed due process, followed advice from outside counsel and acted in good faith,” the group said.
US Anti-Doping Agency’s Tygart hits back on social media“It is disappointing to see WADA succumb to threats and intimidation tactics when faced with blatant violations of the rules governing anti-doping.”
New scandals, old suspicions
The scandal has reignited questions about international sport’s ability to deal with countries accused of systematically using performance-enhancing drugs to gain an unfair advantage at the Olympics and other major competitions. There is.
Despite evidence of systematic doping, the International Olympic Committee has allowed Russian athletes to compete in the Winter and Summer Games, albeit as a neutral country, without displaying the Russian flag or playing the national anthem. It has been criticized for allowing it to continue.
Questions were also raised about Russian swimmer Evgeny Lilov, who won the gold medal in the men’s 200m backstroke at the Tokyo Games.
Russian gold medalist Evgeny Lilov, wearing a face covering, poses with his medal after the men’s 200m backstroke at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Challengers questioned whether he competed with the help of performance-enhancing drugs.
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Russian gold medalist Evgeny Lilov, wearing a face covering, poses with his medal after the men’s 200m backstroke at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Challengers questioned whether he competed with the help of performance-enhancing drugs.
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“I don’t know. [the race] “It was 100 percent clean, and that’s because of what happened in the past,” silver medal-winning US swimmer Ryan Murphy said in a press conference after the 2021 swim.
China also faces ongoing questions about whether its teams systematically use performance-enhancing drugs.
At the 2012 London Summer Games, then 16-year-old swimmer Ye Shiwen of China dominated the competition on the final lap of the women’s 400m individual medley race.
Her final 50 meters were faster than that of American star Ryan Lochte in the men’s version of the same race, raising questions about whether she could have achieved this performance without the aid of drugs.
