World Aquatics confirmed on Thursday (July 4th) that its executive director, Brent Nowicki, has been ordered to testify in a criminal investigation regarding 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for banned substances in US drug tests but were still allowed to participate in the 2021 Olympics.
In a statement to the Associated Press, World Aquatics stated that Nowicki has received a subpoena from the US government to testify and is working to arrange his schedule, which may prevent him from testifying in front of a grand jury.
The organization declined to provide details on when and where Nowicki received the subpoena, nor did they reveal which specific department is handling the investigation.
This news comes just three weeks before the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where 11 of the Chinese swimmers who tested positive for doping three years ago will be competing.
On May 21st, the US House Subcommittee on Chinese Influence called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate the case under federal law.
In a letter to the DOJ and FBI, the subcommittee stated that the scandal has raised serious legal, ethical, and competitive issues, potentially enabling the Chinese authorities to engage in unfair competition at the Olympics similar to Russia’s tactics.
Following the exposure of Russia’s long-standing support for athletes using doping, the US passed the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act in December 2020, allowing the DOJ to investigate alleged doping conspiracies even if they occurred outside the US.
The FBI responded by email on Thursday (4th), stating that they neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation, following their standard practice.
As the 2021 Tokyo Olympics approached, 23 top Chinese swimmers tested positive for the powerful banned substance Trimetazidine (TMZ), a drug with clinical uses for angina. Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was suspended for four years after testing positive for the same substance.
Chinese officials argued that the athletes unknowingly consumed contaminated food. The World Anti-Doping Agency accepted this explanation, allowing the Chinese swimmers to continue competing and referring to it as “a relatively simple case of widespread contamination.”
These Chinese swimmers collectively won five medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, including three gold medals.
Xue Yinxian, 86 years old and currently residing in Germany, served as a sports doctor from the mid-1960s to 1998, overseeing various national teams in China.
In an interview with Voice of America in April, she revealed that the use of banned substances by Chinese athletes has been a long-standing and widespread practice.
Xue disclosed, “In October 1978, Vice Director Chen of the National Sports Commission announced to team doctors that foreign athletes could use stimulants. He asked why we couldn’t use them. From then on, we started using stimulants within the national team.”
She further revealed, “By December 1982, the National Sports Administration Training Bureau instructed all national teams nationwide that taking stimulants to combat fatigue was necessary. They wanted everyone to take stimulants. They announced to all sports teams, regional teams, even children, including kids from sports schools, to take stimulants.”
Xue faced suppression from authorities after exposing the doping scandal in Chinese sports and fled to Germany in 2017 with her son and daughter-in-law seeking political asylum.
The Chinese national swimming team has a tainted history when it comes to doping issues. In the 1994 World Swimming Championships in Rome, Chinese swimmer Zhou Weiyan tested positive for steroids, becoming the first Chinese swimmer to be banned by the International Swimming Federation.
At the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games, seven Chinese swimmers tested positive for steroids. In 1998, swimmer Yuan Yuan was caught by Australian customs officials hiding a large amount of human growth hormone in her luggage at the World Championships in Perth, resulting in a ban.
In February 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that Chinese swimming star Sun Yang had violated WADA rules and tampered with doping samples, leading to an 8-year ban. This was his second ban after a 3-month suspension in 2014 for using TMZ.
An investigative team from Germany’s public broadcaster ARD conducted a two-year independent investigation and on-site visits to China, revealing suspicions of widespread doping by Chinese athletes. They criticized WADA and World Aquatics for not taking appropriate action. In April, The New York Times, in collaboration with ARD, first reported this issue.
Subsequently, WADA defended its failure to disclose this case in 2021, citing the COVID-19 pandemic preventing them from independently refuting China’s claims.
WADA’s lawyer stated that they couldn’t bring individual charges against the 23 swimmers before the Tokyo Olympics. Before serving as the executive director of World Aquatics in 2021, Nowicki had a long tenure as a senior advisor for WADA.
Just a few weeks ago, WADA rejected questioning China’s explanation of food contamination, asserting that it was reasonable not to suspend their athletes.
Officials from WADA in Montreal, Canada declined an invitation to testify before the US congressional hearing, claiming it was inappropriate to engage in political debate in the US Congress on a case involving multiple countries, especially when an independent review of how WADA handled the case is underway.
In April, under significant international pressure, WADA appointed special prosecutor Eric Cottier to conduct an independent investigation into the case, with the review expected to be released before the opening of the Paris Olympics.
Cottier, who served as a prosecutor in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland for 17 years, where the International Olympic Committee and many Olympic sports governing bodies are based.
Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, stated to the AP that the ongoing federal investigation may make these sports officials “nervous about having to answer questions from the FBI about their activities.”
Tygart emphasized that the US federal Anti-Doping Act has broad support from athletes, sports organizations, and multiple governments due to a lack of trust in WADA’s ability to be a robust, fair global oversight body for preserving clean athletes and fair sports.
At a recent US congressional hearing, legendary American swimmer Michael Phelps expressed that Olympic athletes have lost confidence in WADA’s ability to eradicate doping cheaters before the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics next month. Phelps, the most decorated swimmer in history with 23 Olympic gold medals, criticized WADA for not consistently enforcing its policies worldwide.