As Paris Olympics approach, concerns continue after doping watchdog cleared Chinese swimmers in 2021
The Current19:26Doping concerns ahead of the Paris Olympics
A recent investigation into the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) clearance of 23 Chinese athletes ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics is raising questions about whether appropriate measures to stop doping will be upheld at this year’s games.
“I’ve said it’s a trainwreck and … I think it’s different than any other Olympic Games that we’ve ever seen,” said Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
A joint investigation by the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD revealed that prior to the 2020 Games in Tokyo, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned heart medication called trimetazidine (TMZ). The drug is on WADA’s prohibited list as a “hormone and metabolic modulator” because it can increase blood flow efficiency and improve endurance.
But rather than facing suspension, WADA cleared the swimmers, allowing them to compete and win medals — including three gold medals — in the 2020 Olympics. Some of those swimmers may be back on China’s team for the 2024 Olympics.
Since the revelation, a U.S. house panel is now asking the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate. The committee asked that the authorities use a law passed in 2020 in the wake of another doping scandal that gives the Justice Department the power to criminally prosecute those who help athletes dope at international competitions, regardless of whether the offenses occur on American soil.
Tygart says nine of the swimmers who tested positive ahead of the 2020 Games have met qualification criteria and could be named to China’s team for the 2024 Olympics.
“That creates an environment that we haven’t seen before, and I think seriously calls into question the competition,” Tygart told The Current’s Matt Galloway
Tygart claims WADA turned a blind eye to the China’s failure. But Ross Wenzel, the general counsel for WADA, said those kinds of accusations are wrong.
“The analytical results in these cases alone prove that these athletes were inadvertently exposed to trace levels of trimetazidine that would have had no effect on performance at all,” he said.
Where’s the fall guy?
According to the Times’ report, China claims that the 23 swimmers had ingested the banned substance unwittingly and in tiny amounts. Thus, Chinese officials cleared them of wrongdoing — albeit secretly.
Tygart doesn’t buy that they ingested it unwittingly because the drug comes in a pill form. “How does the pill get into a kitchen that somehow contaminates [the athletes], if that’s the claim WADA and CHINADA (China Anti-Doping Agency) are trying to make?”
But according to Wenzell, China’s actions prove that the athletes were accidentally contaminated.
“If the idea … is that this was planted by CHINADA or by the Chinese public authorities in the hotel, in the kitchen … why on earth would they not have found some fall guy?” Wenzel told Galloway.
“They didn’t do that, and to my mind, that’s actually a sign of authenticity, not a fabrication.”
But even if “Tinker Bell sprinkled magic fairy dust in the kitchen of TMZ that then contaminated the food or the air,” Tygart says no one has confirmed just how the drug got there.
In a public statement, WADA said they still stand by its decision after reviewing the Times and ARD reports. They also said they agreed with Chinese authorities’ explanation of the incident.
But the documents WADA used to base their decision haven’t been released to public — something Tygart wants to happen, even if USADA has to get sued to do it.
“I said that from day one, that we’ll be fine if they want to go to court,” he said.
“Whatever it takes to get the file for the world can see what actually happened here, we’re happy to do. If that means they want to sue us, then, then that’s fine.”
Twenty three swimmers from China who tested positive for the same banned drug were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympics and some went on to win medals. The scandal has raised questions about the effectiveness of the World Anti Doping Agency shortly before the Paris Olympics.
On Thursday, WADA appointed a veteran Swiss prosecutor to review how it handled the case. The prosecutor will have access to all of WADA’s documents, files and any consultants he’ll want to speak with.
“His report will be issued. It will be shared immediately with WADA’s executive committee, and we will see guidance from the executive committee on how to proceed,” he said.
“Whether there will be further questions that will be asked, whether there will be a publication of the report, we need to seek guidance on that from our executive committee.”
Two different cases
Part of Tygart’s frustration with this case is the stark contrast against the handling of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva’s doping case.
Valieva had tested positive for TMZ in December 2021, shortly before competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics. She was banned for four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in January 2024, despite blaming contaminated food.
“The stark contrast in the action of applying the rules in that case versus this is just telling of something different happened in the Chinese cases for some reason,” he said. “That’s why the world has so many questions.”
But Wenzel, who was the lead advocate in the Valieva case, said he’s surprised Tygart thinks these cases are comparable.
According to Wenzel, WADA obtained non-published information about both cases, and calculated whether or not the athletes’ contamination stories were possible.
“In the Valieva case, it was impossible — and that was supported by CAS in its eventual ruling,” he said.
“In the Chinese swimmer’s case, based on the analytical results, it couldn’t have been anything other than contamination. So actually, although involving the same substances, these cases are diametrically opposed.”
Trust the process
Going into the 2024 Olympics, Wenzel understands why some athletes may be feeling concerned about the process.
“As an athlete, … if I woke up to claims by the New York Times and by ARD that there’d been mass state-sponsored doping in China and WADA brushed it under the carpet, then I would be concerned as well,” he said.
But Wenzel insists the lack of trust comes from misinformation — “not on the true facts of this, which is that there was no doping; there was no cover-up.”
“WADA followed the rules, and that will be — we’re very confident — found in the review that is underway and that will be issued before the Olympic Games in Paris this year,” he said.
