Third member of Chinese Paris swimming team linked to doping scandal

When China revealed its list of 31 swimmers who will represent the country at the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics, 11 of the competitors remain embroiled in a doping scandal from the previous Olympic Games, which continues to send shockwaves throughout the sporting world and not only.

According to an April New York Times report23 Chinese swimmers, months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a prescription heart drug that can enhance performance and has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since 2014. However, half of them were still allowed to compete in Tokyo after Chinese authorities cleared them and WADA accepted the decision.

Among China’s 31-member list for Paris, Published Tuesday, on the Chinese Swimming Association website, there are seven athletes – Peng Xuwei, Qin Haiyang, Sun Jiajun, Wang Shun, Yang Junxuan, Yu Yiting and Zhang Yufei – who tested positive for TMZ in 2020 and competed in Tokyo. Four other athletes who tested positive – Chen Juner, Fei Liwei, Ge Chutong and Wang Xue’er – did not participate in the Tokyo Olympics but will swim in Paris.

Three of the athletes – Olympic gold medalists Wang Shun and Yang Junxuan, as well as men’s 200m breaststroke world record holder Qin Haiyang – also failed previous tests in 2016 and 2017 for what WADA described as “traces” of the banned steroid clenbuterol, the Times reported last week.

The doping scandal has rocked the sporting world since April and drawn criticism from American authorities, with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) saying in a statement declaration that WADA and the Chinese anti-doping body had “swept these positive aspects under the rug by not fairly and uniformly following the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” Bipartisan legislators since then called for a Department of Justice and International Olympic Committee investigation into allegations of a cover-up.

“Olympic athletes dedicate years of their lives to perfecting their craft to represent the United States on the world stage. They — like athletes in every other country — deserve to compete on a level playing field, free from banned performance-enhancing drugs,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Morgan. Griffith (R-VA) said in a Press release Tuesday, announcing a public hearing next week at which former U.S. Olympians Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt, as well as USADA CEO Travis Tygart, will testify.

“The World Anti-Doping Agency, the body responsible for enforcing fair standards, has a questionable track record in fulfilling this mission. This hearing will give members the opportunity to examine this record, identify opportunities for improvement, and ensure that the best athletes take home gold medals,” said Rodgers and Griffith.

WADA, for its part, vehemently denied the allegations, describing the media coverage in a declaration as “misleading and potentially defamatory.” Chinese authorities concluded in 2021 that the athletes inadvertently ingested the substance through contaminated food at the same hotel, and WADA said in its recent statement that there was “no concrete basis to dispute the alleged contamination” – although amid renewed scrutiny, the WADA assigned Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier must review his handling of the case.

The scandal is expected to cast a shadow over next month’s Olympics, with some athletes reportedly discussing anti-China demonstrations in Paris as a protest against the doping issue.

“Ban them all and never compete again,” wrote British Olympic gold medalist James Guy in a publish at X when the scandal broke.

“It’s hard to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes,” said Katie Ledecky, a seven-time American Olympic gold medalist. CBS News in an interview earlier this month. “And I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low.”