China will send to the Paris Olympic Games 11 swimmers who tested positive in 2021 for a banned substance and then cleared, according to an official list, a case which has caused turmoil for several months. The American daily New York Times and the German channel ARD reported in April that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine – which can improve performance.
WADA concluded that they were not doped
They were not sanctioned, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) having concluded that they had not doped but had been victims of food contamination and that the very low levels of this substance found in the samples seemed incompatible with an intentional grip. But in the wake of the revelations of New York Times and of ARDthe American anti-doping agency (USADA) had accused WADA of having covered up the affair.
Accusations which come against a backdrop of strong Sino-American rivalry concerning a large number of diplomatic, political and even commercial subjects. Several of the Chinese athletes who tested positive in 2021 went on to win medals at the Tokyo Olympics and 11 are among the swimmers selected to participate in the Paris Olympics this summer, according to the list released Tuesday by the Chinese Swimming Association, the The body responsible for this sport in the Asian country.
Among them is swimmer Zhang Yufei, butterfly specialist, who won two gold medals in Tokyo, and Wang Shun, Olympic champion in the 200m medley. A committee of the American Congress asked the American Department of Justice and the Federal Police (FBI) at the end of May to investigate the Chinese swimmers who tested positive.
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WADA, shaken since the revelations made in April, accused USADA, very virulent in this matter, of ” lies “ and called on the United States to strengthen its own anti-doping system.
