Two Chinese swimmers, including one who was due to compete in the Paris Olympics, failed a doping test in 2022 but were cleared by Chinese authorities, the Chinese health ministry said. New York Times reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
The report follows a major controversy surrounding the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) during a national competition in late 2020 and early 2021 ahead of the Tokyo Games. They were also cleared, with food contamination cited as the explanation.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has accused the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) of withholding information. WADA claims the criticism is politically motivated.
In the new report, the New York Times Chinese authorities have concluded that a steroid was accidentally ingested after the two swimmers ate hamburgers in Beijing. “Traces” were detected, which they say are consistent with food contamination rather than doping.
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The newspaper said one of the swimmers was also one of the 23 swimmers.
In a statement responding to the article, WADA said the latest case was part of a “larger case series” that also included a fencer and a BMX rider who all tested positive for the steroid metandienone in late 2022 and early 2023.
“Upon notification, the athletes were all immediately provisionally suspended, pending an investigation, until the end of 2023, when the investigation was concluded. Consequently, in the case of the two swimmers, they were suspended for more than one year,” the organization said.
WADA said the provisional suspension, imposed on November 3, 2022, was intended to “enforce a four-year period of ineligibility before a CHINADA (Chinese Anti-Doping Agency).” “anti-doping tribunal”.
But when cases similar to those of the shooter and the BMX rider, who were not present at the Paris Olympics, emerged, CHINADA conducted an investigation into possible meat contamination.
“CHINADA’s investigation involved testing hundreds of meat samples from various sources, dozens of which tested positive for metandienone,” WADA said.
The agency added that CHINADA had also analyzed supplements used by the athletes and conducted hair tests, which came back negative.
Both swimmers provided negative doping control samples in the days before and after the positive result, WADA added.
“Following its investigation, CHINADA concluded that all four cases were most likely related to meat contamination and, in late 2023, closed the cases without claiming any violations, with the athletes remaining provisionally suspended throughout that period,” the statement said.
WADA said it had “thoroughly” reviewed the cases and decided not to challenge CHINADA’s decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“Hard Core Steroid”
The new case has prompted a scathing new response from USADA, with CEO Travis Tygart lambasting what he described as “a failure of leadership in the anti-doping system.”
Tygart accused China of “sweeping a positive test for a powerful steroid under the carpet.”
“There is overwhelming evidence that the system has failed,” Tygart said in a statement. “WADA has accepted that China can play by its own rules, and the public is losing faith in the Olympic values.”
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“This has to change.”
The temperature reported that a member of the International Aquatics Agency (ITA), which reviewed the case, argued that World Aquatics should have appealed China’s decision to allow the swimmers.
A spokesperson for the sport’s governing body said: “It would not be appropriate for World Aquatics to comment on this matter in detail, but World Aquatics can confirm that it has never received a recommendation from the ITA to appeal the case.”
The newspaper quotes the ITA as denying making such a recommendation.