Explainer: Drugs, sport and politics - what’s going on with China’s Olympic swimmers?

What’s going on with China’s Olympic swimmers?

It wouldn’t be a proper Olympic countdown if there wasn’t some sort of doping controversy hanging over the Games. Three weeks before 10,500 of the world’s best athletes from 184 countries gather in Paris, the finger is being pointed at the Chinese swimmers, and not, it appears, without good reason.

It has emerged that in early 2021, seven months before the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, 23 of China’s best swimmers tested positive for the same banned drug, trimetazidine (TMZ), at a domestic meeting in Shijiazhuang, south of Beijing.

After being investigated by China’s own anti-doping authority, the swimmers escaped any sanction after it was decided they’d all been contaminated by traces of TMZ in the hotel kitchen. This finding was then accepted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and World Aquatics, neither of whom made the matter public.

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Explainer: Drugs, sport and politics - what’s going on with China’s Olympic swimmers?

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Several of the swimmers involved went on to win medals in Tokyo, including three gold, and last month 11 of those same 23 Chinese swimmers were named on their team for Paris, including Zhang Yufei, who won Tokyo gold in the 200m butterfly and the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay, and two silver medals.

Also on the list for Paris is men’s 200m individual medley Olympic gold medallist Wang Shun, 200m breaststroke world-record holder Qin Haiyan, and Yu Yiting, who earlier this year won World Championship bronze in the women’s 200m individual medley, one of the events in Paris where Ireland’s Ellen Walsh will be competing.

How exactly did the positive tests come about?

From January 1st-3rd, 2021, 23 swimmers from the 39-strong Chinese team tested positive for TMZ while competing in the Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, and staying in a local hotel.

The subsequent Chinese investigation blamed food and environmental contamination, accepting that the banned drug had got into spice containers in the hotel kitchen as well as various air vents.

Wada accepted this explanation, saying it was not possible to send its own investigators to China during the pandemic. It also noted in the case of the Chinese swimmers, “the contamination scenario was plausible and that there was no concrete scientific element to challenge it”.

When did all this come to light?

In April of this year, following a series of leaked emails, the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD broke the story, prompting immediate criticism of Wada, the Chinese anti-doping authority and World Aquatics, who had also, in 2021, decided not to press the matter any further.

According to Wada, environmental contamination was the likely cause, and they chose not to pursue it as an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV), despite previous high-profile cases of TMZ positives in Chinese swimming, including Sun Yang, the 2012 Olympic 1,500m champion who was suspended for three months in 2014 after testing positive for the substance. He also served a four-year suspension for a separate doping violation.

Travis Tygart, the head of US Anti-doping, called that decision a “stab in the back to clean athletes” and raised concerns about a potential cover-up.

Wada hasn’t yet published the full reasoned decision behind its acceptance of the contamination claims, which could have at least resulted in a provisional suspension and full disclosure at the time.

What are the benefits of athletes taking TMZ?

Only available by prescription in pill or powder form, TMZ is designed to prevent angina attacks, and is also used in the treatment of heart disease. Listed as a “metabolic modulator”, it is banned by Wada in competition and out of competition, known to help endurance and recovery time after training, and not something usually found lying around any kitchen.

Wada did note it didn’t agree with all aspects of China’s finding into the TMZ positives, “for largely technical reasons”, but ultimately accepted the contamination theory because the levels of TMZ were low and the swimmers were from different regions of China; while in another team hotel, no swimmers tested positive.

Isn’t there a strict athlete liability even in contamination cases, and why wasn’t this followed?

Not really. Although Wada said its rules provide for a “mandatory provisional suspension” for “so-called non-specified substances such as TMZ”, it went on to say “even for mandatory provisional suspensions, there are exceptions, one of which is specific to cases of likely contamination”.

Wada has also appointed retired Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier to review the handling of the case, promising that report before the Games begin. It has also accused the US of “politicising” the matter by repeatedly pointing the finger at China only.

How did Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt get dragged into this?

Last week at a US House Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, titled Examining Anti-Doping Measures in Advance of the 2024 Olympics, Phelps, who won a record 23 gold medals in swimming, said he had lost faith in Wada.

“It is clear to me that any attempts of reform at Wada have fallen short, and there are still deeply rooted systemic problems that prove detrimental to the integrity of international sports and athletes’ right to fair competition, time and time again.”

Schmitt, who was part of the US team that lost of to China in the medley relay in Tokyo, added: “Learning that the Chinese relay consisted of athletes who had not served a suspension, I look back with doubt. I plead, on behalf of US athletes: hold Wada and the global anti-doping system accountable.”

What’s the mood among rival swimmers heading into Paris?

Daniel Wiffen, one of the favourites to win a medal in the 800m and 1,500m freestyle, having won world championship gold in February, told The Irish Times this week: “All I can say is they [the Chinese] don’t really swim my events. So it doesn’t really affect me that much, my events. But I’m there to swim for myself, and my country, and only have time to think about myself.”

Phelps, however, was speaking for a lot of Olympic swimmers when he said several “close friends” had been potentially affected by the decision to allow the Chinese swimmers who failed tests in 2021 compete in Tokyo.

“Many of them will live with the ‘what ifs’ for the rest of their lives.”

Which begs the question: what if more Chinese swimmers win medals in Paris?