China will send to the Paris Olympics this summer 11 swimmers who tested positive in 2021 for a banned substance, but who were cleared. This affair has caused significant stir for several months.
IMAGO/Xinhua
The American daily New York Times and German channel ARD reported last April that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine, a substance that can improve performance.
They were not sanctioned, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) having concluded at the time that they had not doped, but had been victims of food contamination and that the very low levels of this substance found in urine samples appeared inconsistent with intentional intake.
But, in the wake of the revelations from the New York Times and the ARD, the American anti-doping agency (USADA) spoke of a “make-up at the highest level of WADA”, which would have “put these positive cases under the carpet “. The international body, greatly shaken since the start of the affair, responded by accusing USADA, virulent in this matter, of “lies” and of making “politically motivated” remarks to “weaken the work of WADA “.
Several of these Chinese athletes who tested positive in 2021 then won medals at the Tokyo Olympics. And 11 are therefore among the swimmers selected to participate in the Paris Games (July 26-August 11), according to the list published Tuesday by the Chinese Swimming Association, the state body responsible for this sport.
Among them are star swimmer Zhang Yufei, butterfly specialist, who won two gold medals in Tokyo, and Wang Shun, Olympic champion in the 200m medley.
AFP
