China, led by Xi Jinping, is accused of covering up positive doping tests of Chinese Olympic swimmers in 2021 and attempting to send them to participate in forthcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
Sports experts expressed fear that If implicated Chinese swimmers are allowed to participate in Paris Olympics, it can severely tarnish the event’s image, casting a shadow over the integrity and fairness of the games.
The doping watchdog recently gave clearance to banned swimmers of 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. The WADA dismissed allegations by stating that the case was mishandled, describing them as “outrageous” and “completely false,” . The China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) described media reporting of the development as “misleading.” It had previously said the positive results were the result of accidental contamination. The WADA has since commissioned an independent review into its handling of the case. WADA however maintained that it followed every process and line of inquiry concluded that these were cases of contamination, not of doping.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) found it was a cover up and nothing else. USADA chief executive officer Travis Tygart accused both China and WADA of violating the rules. “Even if you believe that that’s what’s caused these positive tests (inadvertent contamination), you still have to announce the positives, you still have to find a violation and you still have to disqualify the results from the event at which these athletes tested positive at,” he said.
According to New Zealand based portal, Drug Free Sport NZ said that there were serious questions for both China and WADA to answer.”On all these, we await further investigation and information, particularly as it relates to the provisional suspension of athletes and the public reporting of violations — two important tenets of anti-doping work.”New Zealand athletes have the right to expect a strong and transparent anti-doping system that is applied consistently to all athletes, no matter what country they come from,” the portal reported.
US lawmakers have already sought an inquiry from the US Department of Justice and the International Olympic Committee into the matter . The Chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned performance-enhancing substance, several months ahead of 2021 Tokyo Olympics – a tournament at which they were allowed to compete in, and went on to win medals at, according to a report from the New York Times released in coordination with German public broadcaster ARD.
US Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and John Moolenaar, two leading members of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party alleged that that this scandal has raised serious legal, ethical, and competitive concerns and may constitute a broader state-sponsored strategy by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to unfairly compete at the Olympic Games. With some of the implicated swimmers potentially competing in Paris, there is a palpable sense of acrimony among athletes from other nations. The situation has cast a shadow over China’s sporting achievements and raised concerns about the fairness of competitions.
WADA’s decision evoked strong reactions from US and other countries. The CNN quoted European Medicines Agency (EMA), which explained the medicine trimetazidine “is a medicine used to prevent angina attacks, which are sudden pains to the chest, jaw and back brought on by physical effort, due to reduced blood flow to the heart.”
Background:
The Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned performance-enhancing substance, several months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics – a tournament at which they were allowed to compete in, and went on to win medals at, according to a report from the New York Times released in coordination with German public broadcaster ARD.
After WADA clearance, several of the athletes are expected to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has now accused WADA of bending the rules for China’s benefit. The Canadian Olympic Committee called the media reports “concerning” and “not previously known to us,” while Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said that the organization was “deeply disheartened” about allegations which challenge “the very foundation of what fair competition stands for.”
According to an article in Foreign Policy portal, the swimming scandal came on the heels of another suspicious incident during the Beijing Half Marathon this month, where three African runners visibly slowed down near the finish line and allowed Chinese national marathon record holder He Jie to win the event. One of the runners reportedly said that he and the others were serving as pacemakers and thus not competing in the race, but there were no records of this arrangement according to the organizing committee. The race organizers quickly revoked He’s result, the FP article stated adding that sports scandals often take years to play out in China—if they ever reach a conclusion. Chinese authorities have a strong interest in covering up suspected violations, and international organizations often comply.
In 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics, bronze-winning Chinese competitor Dong Fangxiao was widely suspected to be underage. At the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, past Chinese state media coverage pointed to the Chinese team—which won the all-around gold—as having a few underage competitors, most notably the 4-foot-8 He Kexin.
In 2010, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) ruled against Dong, who returned her medal from a decade earlier, but China provided documents that supposedly proved that the competitors on the 2008 team were all legitimate. The FIG backed down, but the organization’s president had reportedly said there was “strong circumstantial evidence” that at least some of the gymnasts were underage.