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Britain’s anti-doping agency has joined calls for an independent review into how global sport’s anti-drugs body handled Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance as top athletes prepare for the Olympics in Prepare Paris.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has faced increasing criticism in recent days for its response in early 2020 after 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart drug that increases blood flow. The substance has been banned for athletes for a decade.
Chinese authorities reported the positive test results several weeks after the Wada incident, but blamed a hotel kitchen for the mass casualty.
With no way to investigate on-site due to pandemic lockdown measures, Wada accepted China’s decision not to suspend the swimmers or make the matter public. Several of the athletes involved won medals at the postponed Summer Olympics in Tokyo the following year.
However, after details of the case were revealed last week by The New York Times and German TV channel ARD, Wada came under intense pressure to explain why it chose not to take action.
USADA, the US anti-doping agency, attacked Wada on Tuesday, accusing it of covering up the positive tests and destroying public trust.
It called for an independent prosecutor to review the case and for Wada to be reformed to “remove the fox from guarding the chicken coop” and create a “true global watchdog.” . . to apply the rules uniformly and fairly.”
Britain’s anti-doping department on Wednesday called on Wada to “initiate an independent review of the regulatory framework and processes used” in the case of the Chinese swimmers. Such a step would “help restore confidence in the fight against doping worldwide,” it said.
Nancy Faeser, the German interior minister, called on Wada to launch an independent investigation and told ARD that the Chinese swimmers’ doping allegations, if confirmed, would be “a catastrophe for world sport.”
Several Olympic swimmers have also raised concerns about the incident ahead of this year’s Games, which begin in July.
“What happened to strict liability? Whether anyone benefits from it or not, to this extent it surely proves it is systematic?’ Adam Peaty, the British triple gold medalist who will compete in Paris this year, said on social media. “So disappointing from Wada.”
Ariarne Titmus, the two-time Olympic champion from Australia, won a bronze medal in the 4x200m relay behind China’s gold at the Tokyo Games. She said she was concerned about a level playing field in Paris.
“Every time you race, you just hope that you’re racing against people who are in the same boat as you and have worked as hard as they could to get to the same position in a fair way,” she said. “I hope it’s the same in Paris.”
Several of the Chinese athletes involved in the 2020 incident are expected to compete in the Paris Games.
Lobby group Global Athlete said the claims about the Chinese swimmers “undermine the entire global system of fair and clean sport.”
Wada senior officials defended their decisions earlier this week, saying the pattern of positive tests suggested that trimetazidine was not taken intentionally and that accidental exposure was “plausible.”
Ross Wenzel, Wada’s general counsel, insisted that any legal attempt to challenge China’s findings would have been doomed due to a lack of evidence.
Wada President Witold Bańka said there was “no credible evidence of wrongdoing” and that criticism of the agency was “politically motivated.”
Montreal-based Wada is funded equally by the International Olympic Committee and national governments. The United States is the largest contributor, with $3.4 million, of the $22.4 million that Wada received from public authorities in 2023.
China provided $713,000 last year, but the country has provided additional payments to Wada for certain programs, including a $992,000 contribution in 2020 to the anti-doping agency’s intelligence and investigations division.
Trimetazidine has previously led to doping scandals in sports. Teenage Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was banned for four years after testing positive for the drug at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, while Chinese swimmer Sun Yang was briefly banned from competition in 2014 after taking the substance.
Valieva, who was 15 at the time of the positive test, claimed the drug was prescribed to her grandfather and that he may have accidentally contaminated a dessert she had eaten. Sun’s team doctor said the drug was prescribed to treat a heart condition. Sun was later handed a lengthy ban for a separate doping violation.