According to media reports, 23 top Chinese swimmers went unpunished despite positive doping tests. According to a report by ARD, the World Anti-Doping Agency Wada decided not to investigate the matter itself. WADA therefore trusted the Chinese authorities’ account that contaminated meals in an athletes’ hotel were said to have been the cause of the positive tests.
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According to research by the ARD doping editorial team and the New York Times The swimmers are said to have tested positive at a national competition in China at the beginning of 2021. The banned heart drug trimetazidine is said to have been found at the competition in Shijiazhuang. At the Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2021, the 30-member Chinese team won six medals, including three gold.
According to the report submitted by China, the positive samples were caused by contamination, the media further reported. Food was cooked for all affected athletes in a hotel kitchen in Shijiazhuang. The report shows that more than two months later, investigators inspected the kitchen and found traces of trimetazidine in the extractor hood, on spice containers and in the drain. China argued that the doping drug got into the athletes’ bodies without their knowledge. The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency stated that there had been “no anti-doping violations” and therefore there was no need for action.
According to the ARD report, the Chinese investigation reads largely like a perfectly aligned causal chain of logical conclusions. However, a forensic toxicologist and pharmacist commissioned by the broadcaster tested the Chinese information experimentally and found that it was unlikely that the events had occurred as China portrayed them.
In response to a request from ARD, the World Anti-Doping Agency Wada said that, based on the analysis data, it saw “no basis” to “challenge the declarations of contamination”. WADA adhered to its rules. The World Swimming Federation announced that the events had been examined carefully and professionally. Therefore, there was no need to do anything further.
According to media reports, 23 top Chinese swimmers went unpunished despite positive doping tests. According to a report by ARD, the World Anti-Doping Agency Wada decided not to investigate the matter itself. WADA therefore trusted the Chinese authorities’ account that contaminated meals in an athletes’ hotel were said to have been the cause of the positive tests.
According to research by the ARD doping editorial team and the New York Times The swimmers are said to have tested positive at a national competition in China at the beginning of 2021. The banned heart drug trimetazidine is said to have been found at the competition in Shijiazhuang. At the Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2021, the 30-member Chinese team won six medals, including three gold.
