“WADA changed the rules for some countries.” USADA again criticizes handling of Chinese swimmers’ case

United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief Travis Tygart said the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) does not adhere to a single line when reviewing cases of athletes from different countries.

American track and field athlete Errion Knighton tested positive for doping on March 26 and was provisionally suspended from competition on April 12. During hearings, he was able to prove that the banned drug entered his body accidentally and was granted the right to compete in the 2024 Olympics. WADA called Knighton’s case a good example of USADA’s double standard.

— USADA handled this case in accordance with the rules, which is in stark contrast to how China and WADA acted in the situation with 23 positive trimetazidine tests. [у китайских пловцов] and recently identified two positive tests for methandienone. In the trimetazidine cases, WADA allowed China to withhold notification of positive test results from athletes. Neither China nor WADA enforced mandatory suspension rules, and athletes were denied access to B samples. Neither WADA nor China could find the source of the trimetazidine, which they wanted the world to believe had miraculously appeared in the kitchen.

Trimetazidine is a controlled drug. More importantly, WADA has allowed China to ignore and not report these cases, even though mandatory rules require, without exception for pollution cases, that violations be discovered and published.

“The real problem in this case is WADA’s bad rule. We have been calling for years for a formal change to the pollution rules, but WADA has refused to act quickly. But the world now knows that WADA has been secretly changing the rules for certain athletes and countries, as seen in the case of the Chinese athletes,” Tygart said in a statement posted on USADA’s website.

In April, the New York Times reported that trimetazidine had been found in samples taken from 23 Chinese swimmers ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. According to the publication, the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) conducted its own investigation, after which it announced that the substance had unintentionally and in small amounts entered the athletes’ bodies. A joint investigation by the organization and Chinese police revealed that traces of the substance had been found in the kitchen of the hotel where the Chinese swimmers were staying. WADA was unable to refute the Chinese version and did not punish the athletes. Independent prosecutor Eric Cottier found no error on WADA’s part in the Chinese swimmers’ case.

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