AMA – on the difference between the cases of Valieva and the Chinese swimmers: “There were serious gaps in the athlete’s explanations”

World Anti-Doping Agency (AMA ) stated that in the case of the Chinese swimmers, everything indicates the absence of deliberate use of trimetazidine, unlike the case of the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva which could not prove it.

Earlier, media reported that in January 2021, 23 Chinese swimmers had positive doping tests for trimetazidine. Then Chinese athletes were allowed to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. On April 13, WADA announced that it was not punishing Chinese athletes because it could not refute the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency’s (CHINADA) verdict that a banned substance had inadvertently entered the athletes’ bodies. athletes.

Trimetazidine was also found in Valieva’s sample, who was ultimately disqualified for four years for anti-doping rule violations.

— Each possible source of contamination must be evaluated and verified to determine whether it represents an adverse sample result and whether it will be accepted on the balance of probabilities. In the case of the Chinese swimmers, this was done carefully and there was no evidence to suggest a doping scenario. Moreover, all available data confirmed the contamination version.

Even without taking into account that the Chinese side found trimetazidine in the hotel kitchen, the test results do not fit the scenario of deliberate consumption of trimetazidine, but rather some form of contamination. In particular, this was demonstrated by the fact that all positive test results were within a narrow range at low or very low concentrations, as well as by the fact that the athletes were tested more than once and their Results fluctuated between negative and positive within hours with low concentration.

As an example, in the case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, on the other hand, her initial explanation of the infection resulting from contact with her grandfather was true (after review by the scientific department of the ‘AMA) incompatible with the pharmacokinetics of trimetazidine and was therefore challenged by WADA before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

WADA, as part of the CAS appeal process, also challenged the athlete’s later explanation that she had been indirectly contaminated by the strawberry dessert her grandfather had prepared for her. Ultimately, CAS accepted WADA’s position that there were serious evidentiary gaps in the athlete’s explanations,” WADA said in a statement.

Earlier, WADA announced it had invited independent prosecutor Eric Cottier to conduct a “thorough review” of his own work on the Chinese swimmers’ doping case.

At the 2020 Olympics, Chinese swimmers won 6 medals (3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze) and also broke several world records.

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