World Aquatics has announced that Chinese swimmers participating in the Paris Olympics are undergoing rigorous drug testing procedures, being tested at least eight times this year leading up to the Games. This initiative comes after 11 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned heart medication in 2021, just six months before the Tokyo Olympics, where they went on to win three gold medals.
An investigation in June 2021, backed by the Chinese government, attributed the positive doping results to mass contamination from food in a hotel kitchen, a claim without substantiated evidence. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) received criticism for accepting this explanation at the time when travel to China for investigations was restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the situation, WADA-appointed prosecutors in Switzerland recently cleared the agency of bias towards China in a report with limited scope. Furthermore, Swimming’s governing body has formed a panel to review how it handled the case, recognizing the need to enhance anti-doping measures for certain countries, particularly China, ahead of major events like the Olympics.
World Aquatics stated that athletes from specific nations have been tested four times by the International Testing Agency based in Lausanne since the beginning of the year. Specifically for Chinese athletes competing in Paris, they are subject to a minimum of eight tests conducted by the ITA within the same period, with samples not being collected or tested in China.
The results of these intensified drug tests will be made public by World Aquatics before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. The governing body emphasized the importance of maintaining trust within the aquatics community for the continued success of the international federation. The appointed panel, led by former Spanish sports minister Miguel Cardenal, found no irregularities, mismanagement, or cover-ups within World Aquatics.
To enhance transparency and restore trust with athletes and coaches, the panel recommended that World Aquatics regularly publish details of provisional suspensions for potential anti-doping rule violations and disclose information on the frequency and entities conducting tests in the six months leading up to major events. Florent Manaudou of France, an Olympic gold medal swimmer, was also part of the committee that issued these recommendations.