Swimming is experiencing new upheavals, which it would have done well without. According to an investigation 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 is 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 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 Times, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Swimming Federation accepted the explanations provided by the authorities Chinese, which speak of unintentional ingestion, caused by “a contaminated food supply. »
“Makeup at the highest level”
The AMA justified to the ARD the absence of sanctions by indicating that it had retained “no basis” allowing “to contest the explanation of the contamination”, and this, in particular, because of the low concentrations. A position that is surprising on several levels, starting with that of independent organizations, such as the International Testing Agency (ITA). The Switzerland-based agency said 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 these are “shocking revelations” and a “stab in the back of all clean athletes.” According to him, the affair smacks of “make-up at the highest level of the AMA”.
Interviewed by the New York Times, Travis 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 as possible, in accordance with the rules and the law. »
And in Washington, a law adopted in 2020 could well lead this matter into 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. .
