Seven months before the 2021 Olympics, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for doping.
Despite that, they were allowed to continue competing, and the case was not revealed until this spring – when the New York Times and Germany’s ARD reported on the case, which had long been blacked out.
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Strong anabolic steroid
Several of the swimmers won medals in Tokyo, and several are in Paris competing at the Olympics this week.
Now reveals New York Times a similar case. They write that two elite Chinese swimmers, one of whom (Tang Muhan, with an Olympic gold medal on his record) is part of the Chinese Olympic squad this year, tested positive for a strong and banned anabolic steroid in 2022. The other swimmer was one of the 23 who tested positive ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
“Ate hamburger”
Last year, however, they were acquitted by Chinese authorities, as they were not able to prove how they ingested the steroid in question. They should, however, according to the New York Times (which refers to two different sources with knowledge of the case) have concluded that they most likely ingested the steroid after eating hamburgers at a restaurant in China.
The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (Chinada) has not responded to the New York Times’ questions about the current case, but assures that they have zero tolerance for doping.
The international anti-doping agency Wada has also looked into the case.
“Ultimately, there was no reason to challenge the contamination scenario presented by the athlete and Chinada”.