China has selected eleven swimmers that are embroiled in a major doping scandal for next month’s Paris Olympics.
Earlier this year it emerged that 23 of the country’s swimming team were cleared to compete at the Tokyo Games in 2021, despite testing positive for a banned substance months earlier.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said it was “not in a position to disprove” an assertion from the China Anti-Doping Agency (Chinada) that they had unintentionally ingested heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ), which can enhance performance.
That sparked an outcry from Western anti-doping agencies and athletes, with United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) chief executive Travis Tygart suggesting a cover up, a claim Wada rejected as “completely false and defamatory” .
A third of the 31-strong team that China has now named for the Olympics are swimmers that were reported at the time to have failed drugs tests, threatening to cast a shadow over the Paris Games.
“This is the train-wreck we were worried about and it’s exactly why we called for a real, independent prosecution of these previously hidden positive tests, especially given that the statute of limitations hasn’t run out”, Tygart told BBC Sport.
“All athletes deserve to know that it’s a fair and just outcome for these Chinese athletes to be at the Paris Games competing against other athletes who have been held to the strictest standards.”
