Swimming is experiencing new upheavals, which it would have done well without. According to a survey conducted jointly by the American daily New York Times and the German public television group ARD, twenty-three of the best Chinese swimmers tested positive for doping during a competition held in Shijiazhuang (China) in January 2021. The substance detected was trimetazidine , banned since 2014, and considered to be responsible for improving blood circulation. This molecule was found during the Beijing Winter Games (2022), in analyzes carried out on Russian skater Kamila Valieva, leading to her suspension for four years.
Although an investigation was carried out by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, followed by a report from Chinada, the national anti-doping agency, no provisional suspension was issued, even though the case was handed down in March 2021. And thirteen of these twenty-three swimmers participated in the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games.
Among them, Wang Shun, crowned Olympic champion in Japan in the 200m medley and silver medalist in the mixed relay, a podium that he shared with Yang Junxuan, also a positive test. Sprinter Zhang Yufei is also one of these athletes, according to the survey, who was a quadruple medalist in Tokyo – including two titles – and will appear in Paris as the favorite for short distances in butterfly swimming.
According to the ARD – which had already revealed the Russian doping scandal at the end of 2014 – and the New York Timesthe World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Swimming Federation have accepted the explanations given by the Chinese authorities, which evoke involuntary ingestion, caused by “a contaminated food supply. »
“Makeup at the highest level”
WADA justified to the ARD the absence of sanctions by indicating that it had not retained “no basis” allowing to “contest the explanation of contamination”, and this, in particular, because of the low concentrations. A position that surprises on several levels, starting with that of independent organizations, such as the International Testing Agency (ITA). The Switzerland-based agency said that “its own assessment of the matter is still ongoing.”
Faced with this major case, the United States is not giving up, and the head of the American anti-doping agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, believes that this is “shocking revelations”t of a “stab in the back of all clean athletes”. According to him, the affair smells “makeup at the highest level of the AMA”.
Questioned by the New York TimesTravis Tygart went even further: “All those who had their hands dirty by burying these positive tests and suppressing the voices of courageous whistleblowers must be held accountable to the fullest extent, in accordance with the rules and the law. »
And in Washington, a law adopted in 2020 could well lead this matter towards a major conflict. In the event of an investigation by American authorities, the Department of Justice would have the power to initiate criminal proceedings against attempted corruption through doping during international sports competitions, regardless of where they take place. .