New York Times and ARD writes on Saturday that 23 Chinese swimmers in connection with a national competition tested positive for a powerful and banned substance just seven months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The substance: Trimetazidine, the same banned heart drug that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics — and is still banned for.
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Explained with contamination
The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency also acknowledged that the swimmers in question had tested positive, but argued that they ingested the substance unknowingly and that the amounts involved were small, and that they therefore did not need to be penalized.
In their investigation of the case, they write that the positive cases were due to contamination, and that there were traces of the substance in the hotel the Sims were staying at. But according to ARD, there was no evidence for their claims in the Chinese investigation.
“Shocking”
The NYT writes that several international anti-doping officials had information that China’s version is incorrect. The International Testing Agency – a global organization that works with doping tests around the world – received information about the case around the same time as the 2021 Olympics, and is investigating the case, which suggests that it was not as innocent as China suggests.
“At the same time as we are conducting a full investigation of the information we have received, the ITA has conducted many targeted tests in 2021, 2022, 2023 and right up until today,” they write in a statement to the American newspaper.
David Howman was formerly head of the international anti-doping agency Wada, and is now chairman of athletics’ independent anti-doping agency AIU, and describes the incident as “shocking”.
– I am very worried. What immediately comes to my mind is that there was some kind of program going on to “prepare” the swimmers for the Tokyo Olympics, he tells the New York Times.
Wada admits it was made aware of the incident, but saw “no reason” to question the Chinese version.
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This is how a doping test works.