With just weeks to go until the Paris Olympics, Chinese swimmers have become embroiled in the latest state-sponsored doping scandal.
of scheme From East German steroids 50 years ago to the recent mass falsification of urine tests in Russia, things may change, but CorrosiveThe demoralizing effect on clean athletes will never change: after years of training and invasive testing, clean American swimmers will be competing against Chinese swimmers who have used performance-enhancing drugs.
“We have to pull our shorts up to our knees and our shirts up to our chests,” 10-time Olympic swimming medalist Allison Schmidt told a House committee investigating Chinese doping, describing the tests, “while someone bends over and watches us urinate.” Michael Phelps, a 23-time gold medalist in swimming, testified that he was subjected to as many as 150 such intrusive drug tests in one year — more than the entire national team — and often had to provide 4-6 blood vials.
The New York Times Recently revealed research Just before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive at a domestic tournament for a heart drug called trimetazidine (TMZ), which is banned in competition as a performance-enhancing drug.
After a two-month wait, the China Anti-Doping Agency released the test results to the World Anti-Doping Agency, but claimed the athletes had unknowingly taken TMZ while eating dinner at a Chinese hotel. The Chinese agency did not explain how the prescription pill ended up in the meals of a shocking number of top swimmers.
Both the World Anti-Doping Agency and the China Anti-Doping Agency follow strict liability regimes, even in cases of suspected accidental contamination. Athletes are responsible for the medicines they use and the food they eat. This is why, for example, Allison Schmidt gave up topical creams and oral medications to avoid unintentional positive tests.
Moreover, Chinese agencies were obligated under international rules to make the information public immediately. Disclose The players who tested positive will be identified and provisionally suspended until an investigation is completed into whether they knowingly consumed TMZ. We’re screwed To comply with these procedures, the World Anti-Doping Agency Intervened Notably, a Chinese whistleblower currently living in Germany had previously reported that the Chinese government was giving banned substances to its country’s athletes, leading to an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The World Anti-Doping Agency’s inaction was puzzling because the World Anti-Doping Agency had filed a similar complaint against it when the Russian Anti-Doping Agency failed to act in the same case of Russian Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva. positive In an interview with TMZ, Valieva claimed that her grandfather’s TMZ pills had been mixed into her strawberry dessert. The Court of Arbitration for Sport has stripped Valieva of her gold medal from the 2022 Winter Olympics.
By not intervening in the case of the 23 Chinese swimmers, the agency has allowed many of them to compete and win gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Eleven of the 23 will compete in the Paris Olympics. There is no evidence that China bribed the World Anti-Doping Agency, but the Olympic medal wins are Geopolitical priorities Over the past five years, China has paid $1.8 million to the organization in addition to its required membership fees.
The agency has denied any wrongdoing. It has hired a Swiss lawyer to investigate but has not promised to make its findings public. Travis Tygart, director of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, has called the investigation “a scam.”Whitewash.”
The World Anti-Doping Agency’s failure to do its job could have dire consequences for the future of the Olympics. Michael Phelps WarnedWithout fair competition, one day “the Olympics may no longer be held.”
Gregory J. WallaceHe served as a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations and was part of the team that prosecuted ABSCAM, convicting one U.S. Senator and six U.S. Representatives on bribery charges.Into Siberia: George Kennan’s epic journey through the harsh and frozen heart of Russia.“
