The World Anti-Doping Agency is facing calls for reform following the scandal that saw 23 Chinese athletes, including two gold medalists, secretly allowed to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, despite testing positive before the Games.
- Chinese swimmers recorded 23 positive drug tests but were released without ban
- Among them was Wang Shun, who beat Duncan Scott to the 200m medley title.
- The United States Anti-Doping Agency has launched a scathing attack on WADA.
The body responsible for controlling doping in world sport is facing demands for total reform following the swimming scandal which saw 23 Chinese athletes secretly allowed to compete in the Tokyo Olympics despite positive doping tests.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency has launched a scathing attack on the World Anti-Doping Agency following the latter’s assertion on Monday that it would “do nothing different” in its handling of the matter.
The astonishing case, which only came to light this weekend, involves 23 athletes who were exonerated by Chinese authorities after the banned substance trimetazidine was found in their samples in 2021, just months before the Olympics.
According to the New York Times, two of those swimmers won gold medals, including Wang Shun beating Team GB’s Duncan Scott to the 200m medley title, with WADA choosing not to appeal the decision. Chinese official explanation that the athletes were victims of accidental contamination in a hotel kitchen. WADA has since said it was unable to conduct its own field investigations at the time due to Covid.
In dismantling WADA’s rationale for keeping the saga under wraps, the United States Anti-Doping Agency has requested that an independent prosecutor review the positives.
Wang Shun beat Team GB’s Duncan Scott to win gold in the 200m medley at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Zhang Yufei was also successful, although Chinese swimmers recorded 23 positive drug tests.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency, led by Travis Tygart, launched an attack on WADA.
They also said in a statement Tuesday: “WADA’s willingness to blindfold and handcuff itself, as we learned yesterday, and maintain that it would do the same thing again, is another blow in the backs of clean athletes.”
“How can a global regulator be satisfied when they allow 23 positive tests to be swept under the rug and no athlete or organization held accountable?
“All athletes, sponsors and fans of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement deserve a true global watchdog with the teeth and determination to enforce the rules evenly and fairly.
“Furthermore, following this review, we call on governments and the sporting movement to review WADA to ensure that the cover-up of positive samples on the eve of the Olympic Games can never happen again, and to withdraw once for all the fox guards the henhouse by making the AMA truly independent.
The British Olympic Association’s Athletes’ Commission called for transparency after expressing its own “concerns” in a statement on Tuesday: “In the event of an abnormal result, it is crucial to have a system in place that allows for a rapid, transparent investigation and significant.
“We were therefore concerned by the allegations that emerged over the weekend regarding the results of tests carried out in preparation for the Tokyo Olympic Games. While monitoring this situation closely, as athletes we urge sports policing authorities to ensure that no such uncertainty exists before or after Paris 2024.”
