We explain to you what the "China files"which reveal a doping scandal involving Chinese Olympic medalists
A survey published on Saturday April 20 by the New York Times and the German channel ARD revealed positive tests involving 23 Chinese swimmers, seven months before the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. Chinese authorities cleared these athletes, and the world anti-doping agency reportedly chose not to investigate or intervene. Almost half of the swimming team sent by China to the Tokyo Games are affected, including Zhang Yufei, a double gold medalist in Tokyo, and several other medal-winning athletes. Many of them are expected at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the same substance, trimetazidine (nicknamed TMZ), during a swimming meet in Shijiazhuang organized by the Chinese Swimming Association, between December 2020 and January 2021. Trimetazidine is a drug prescribed for people with cardiac pathologies, which helps increase endurance at high cardiac intensity and recovery. This substance is formally prohibited, and results in a positive test and immediate temporary suspension regardless of its concentration in the sample taken, with very rare exceptions.
Accidental food contamination is one of the only circumstances that can prevent an athlete who tests positive for trimetazidine from being suspended. This is precisely the conclusion of the investigation carried out by the Chinese anti-doping agency (Chinada), at the origin of the positive tests during the meeting. In an internal report, she states that “the swimmers ingested the banned substance without their knowledge and in very small quantities”, not justifying any action in his opinion. La Chinada claims that traces of the substance were found in the kitchens of the hotel where the swimmers were staying.
World Aquatics, the new name of the International Swimming Federation, also affirmed its confidence in the monitoring processes, with the organization saying it “satisfied that these adverse analytical findings were handled diligently and professionally, and in accordance with all applicable anti-doping regulations, including the World Anti-Doping Code” nearby New York Times.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was notified of these positive tests in June 2021, as evidenced by an exchange of emails between a senior official of world swimming and a Chinese representative of the fight against doping, “which seemed to indicate that a violation may have occurred and that it should, at a minimum, be publicly acknowledged”indicates the New York Times. WADA could then challenge the Chinese conclusions by appealing. But she invoked “the absence of any credible evidence”. A position that she retained despite the fact that national and international anti-doping officials “have repeatedly provided (…) reports suggesting cover-up and doping by Chinese swimmers”.
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