In April, ARD reported that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had excluded 23 Chinese swimmers from the Tokyo Olympics who had tested positive for trimetazidine six months earlier. WADA explained its decision by saying it accepted the arguments of the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) regarding the unintentional entry of a banned drug into the bodies of swimmers during their stay at the hotel.
When this incident became known (WADA had initially decided not to disclose the information), the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, accused WADA and CHINADA of hiding informations.
According to new ARD data obtained from anonymous sources within the Chinese swimming team, CHINADA issued a not guilty verdict without hearing the athletes’ arguments in their defense, since they were not even at the aware of their violations. In addition, ARD analyzed the swimmers’ social media posts and found that not all 23 swimmers were at the hotel in early 2021, where, according to CHINADA’s official version, trimetazidine entered their body through restaurant food.
Let us recall that 11 of these swimmers were on the Chinese team for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Source: Sport
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
