China’s state-run Global Times Complained Olympic doping tests are a kind of “psychological” warfare against Chinese athletes, and Chinese athletes who endured an “unprecedented number of doping tests” to win gold medals should refute “US doping smears” against the Chinese team, he argued on Thursday.
“Analysts said Thursday that the United States, which has dominated the tournament, is using political tactics to pressure Chinese athletes despite the strong performance of China’s swimming team.” of Global Times Highly praisedrepeated the same unfounded speculation at the end of its editorial: “But these actions have tarnished the U.S. national image. We cannot help but wonder whether the U.S. will be able to run the Olympics fairly and maintain the Olympic spirit in Los Angeles four years from now.”
China’s doping controversy Global Times Hyperventilating in a paper bag is a very real contrast to the Communist Party newspapers’ hysterics about “slander.” The Chinese swimming team Caught in the crossfire The 2021 Tokyo Olympics are in the midst of a major doping scandal, with 11 of the swimmers who tested positive for drugs competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Tuesday, The New York Times report Two Chinese swimmers who tested positive for banned anabolic steroids in 2022 “were quietly cleared of doping suspicions by Chinese authorities late last year,” the report said.
Chinese authorities have routinely claimed that their athletes tested positive for drugs after eating contaminated food, and this latest scandal has seen that excuse used again: This time, the suspects allegedly got a banned substance into their bloodstream after eating burgers in Beijing.
of new york Times International anti-doping agencies have questioned this explanation but noted that Chinese athletes were still allowed to take part in the Paris Olympics, leading several officials to become infuriated and turn whistle-blowers.
Investigators and at least one expert from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) were not convinced by the contamination explanation in the recent cases, according to a person familiar with the matter. But WADA, which is supposed to act as a backstop if national anti-doping agencies fail to properly monitor their own athletes, chose not to appeal China’s decision not to suspend the athletes.
The case was also reviewed by the International Testing Agency, another anti-doping agency that was created in response to the Russian doping scandal that rocked Olympic sports nearly a decade ago. At least one ITA official thought swimming’s international governing body should appeal China’s decision to acquit the athletes, according to a person familiar with the case. But the swimming organization known as World Aquatics did not appeal.
The two people with direct knowledge of the positive tests, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the tests must remain confidential, said they decided to go public because they felt the world should know at a time when the tests were covered up and global anti-doping efforts are under intense scrutiny.
of Global Times Not surprisingly, we took the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) at its word without question when it claimed the athletes were drug-free. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it was “very concerned about a number of the cases” but did not find sufficient evidence to challenge CHINADA’s conclusions. The general attitude of international organizations seems to be very reluctant to challenge the conclusions of national health authorities.
of The New York Times “The bar for disproving an accidental contamination scenario may be quite high, because some banned substances appear to be “accidentally ingested,” sometimes under bizarre and complicated circumstances. Meanwhile, China has presented little evidence to support the theory of accidental contamination,” the report noted.
The American vector of this debate is Global Times What’s creating a stir in the US is the criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI into the handling of 23 positive tests at the Tokyo Olympics, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and WADA apparently see as an attempt to undermine the international system and have threatened retaliation against the Olympics being held in the US.
” The New York Times“The attempt to politicise the doping issue aims to disrupt the order of swimming at the Paris Olympics and undermine the mental state and competitive performance of Chinese athletes,” CHINADA complained after the article was published on Tuesday.
“This is extremely unfair and immoral,” China said. SaidUnfazed by China’s complaints, The New York Times I stuck to my reporting.
Chinese swimmer Pan Jianle won China’s first swimming gold medal on Wednesday. Global Times Pan passed 29 drug tests in 2023 in what was described as “a powerful rebuttal to the allegations that have cast a shadow over the Chinese swimming team.”
of Global Times He complained that Chinese swimmers are being tested “almost four times” more frequently than most American swimmers.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) countered that China’s complaints about the testing schedule for US athletes are because the tests are conducted transparently and the results are made public, and that China has a history of “covering up” drug testing.
USADA further noted that when American sprinter Erion Knighton claimed he had taken banned substances through contaminated meat, Knighton was able to prove that the specific food he ate was contaminated with steroids, rather than making a “general allegation of contamination.”
