- Lawyer Tim Fuller denounces anti-doping authorities scandal
- Australian swimmer Shayna Jack had to fight to clear her name
- Fuller says it’s a ‘shocking double standard’
Australian swimmer Shayna Jack’s lawyer has been shocked by revelations that Chinese swimmers were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Games despite testing positive for doping.
Shockwaves were sent through swimming after it emerged that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) ahead of the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Despite this, they were allowed to compete as they had not been provisionally suspended. The Chinese team won three gold medals in swimming races involving Australians.
Commonwealth Games medalist Jack was one of the swimming pool’s rising stars until her world came crashing down in 2019 after testing positive for the banned muscle builder Ligandrol, leaving her swimming career and his hopes at the Tokyo Olympics in tatters.
She ultimately cleared her name after proving the positive test was due to contamination, but she still missed the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Chinese swimmer and three-time Olympic champion Sun Yang (pictured) is currently suspended for doping violations.
Australian swimmer Shayna Jack (pictured) proved her positive test was the result of contamination, but she still served a two-year ban and missed the Tokyo Games.
Jack’s lawyer, Tim Fuller, is perplexed by the “double standards” imposed on Chinese swimmers.
“Oh, it’s a shocking double standard, you know, Shayna was fighting to clear her name,” Fuller told the Nine Network’s Today Show.
“She was cleared by a court, WADA appealed that decision, so she had to appeal.
“And during that time, you know, behind the scenes, we had 23 Chinese athletes who were ultimately judged to have done nothing wrong.
“So there was no wrongdoing and we didn’t even hear about it. I mean, it’s the most confusing thing,
“That there was no announcement, nothing. And we found out three years later.
The World Anti-Doping Agency, known as WADA, accepted the Chinese team’s explanation that the athletes’ drug samples had been contaminated by the food served to them in the team’s accommodation. team during their camp.
An investigation estimated that the TMZ found in the samples would not have provided a significant improvement in performance.
Jack’s lawyer, Tim Fuller, is stunned that the results of the failed tests have not been made public.
Fuller is stunned that the failed tests have not been made public.
“It’s the biggest mystery,” he said. “I mean, in their rules, there is an obligation to make an announcement.
“All athletes, all athletes around the world, if they test positive for a banned substance, will be provisionally excluded.
“So this is a temporary suspension and then they have to go through the process and we figure it out.
“We find out about athletes who have been fired. But on this occasion, with 23 athletes from one of the greatest swimming nations in the world, we hear nothing.
