At the Paris Olympics, the performance of the Chinese swimming team fell short of expectations, with Pan Zhanle winning the men’s 100m freestyle gold medal on the sixth day of the Olympics. However, the Chinese swimming team is still embroiled in a controversy over doping. It was revealed that in 2022, some Chinese swimmers tested positive for drugs but were still allowed to compete in the Olympics.
On the night of July 28th local time, in the swimming competition at the Paris Olympics, both pre-race favorites of the Chinese swimming team, Zhang Yufei and Qin Haiyang, did not meet expectations. Zhang Yufei won a bronze medal in the women’s 100m butterfly event, while Qin Haiyang lost his rhythm suddenly in the second half of the men’s 100m breaststroke final, slipping from first to seventh place.
On July 29th, former Chinese diver Gao Min posted on Weibo that Zhang Yufei placed third and Qin Haiyang seventh, especially noting Qin Haiyang’s performance as the worst in the past two years. Gao Min stated: “There must have been problems with the athletes’ pre-race training. I personally think that the seven times a day of doping tests successfully interfered with the Chinese swimming team.”
Gao Min’s post quickly trended on Weibo with many people in the comments section believing that Chinese athletes were being unfairly treated.
Prior to this, Zhang Yufei had told the media that all Chinese swimming athletes in Paris had undergone 20 to 30 tests within two months, averaging 3 to 4 tests per week. The nutritionist of the Chinese swimming team, Yu Liang, also wrote that during their 10-day stay in France, the entire team of 31 athletes were tested nearly 200 times by the International Anti-Doping Organization.
Former Chinese national team swimmer Huang Xiaomin, interviewed on August 1st by reporters from Dajiyuan, said that drug tests were only conducted during competitions in the past, but now athletes ranked in the top 10 to 20 globally can be tested anytime, anywhere. She mentioned that previously, both track and swimming athletes had to use banned substances, with the difference being in the quantity used.
She further expressed that the frequent drug tests for Chinese athletes signify a lack of trust from the international community regarding their use of banned substances.
On July 30th, on the fourth day of the Paris Olympics, the Chinese authorities claimed the innocence of Chinese swimmers due to a “poison burger” incident as revealed by foreign media.
As far back as 2022, two top Chinese swimmers were found positive for potent steroids. However, the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency attributed this to the athletes consuming contaminated food, leading to the lifting of their suspension. This marked the third occasion in recent years where the Chinese national swimming team attributed positive test results to food contamination.
One of these swimmers was selected to participate in the Paris Olympics. Following an extended so-called “investigation,” the Chinese authorities claimed they could not determine how the swimmers ingested the steroid drugs, but suggested they likely consumed contaminated burgers made from beef in a restaurant in Beijing.
This explanation raised skepticism among many anti-doping experts, who criticized this incident as the latest example of the Chinese regime turning a blind eye to positive test results in swimming, highlighting the failure of global anti-doping agencies to ensure a fair competition environment for elite athletes.
Insiders revealed that neither the investigators nor at least one expert from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) believed in the Chinese explanation.
In a statement on July 30th, WADA disclosed that following the positive drug test reports of the two Chinese swimmers, they immediately imposed temporary suspensions on them. These suspensions would last until the end of 2023, pending the conclusion of the investigation.
WADA also stated that apart from these two swimmers, two other athletes not included in the Chinese Paris Olympics delegation – a BMX cyclist and a shooter – also tested positive for trace amounts of the same banned substance, metandienone, in early 2023.
The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) criticized WADA for mishandling the case of positive drug tests by Chinese athletes, alleging favoritism towards China (the Chinese Communist Party). However, WADA rebuked USADA for politicizing professional issues and criticizing WADA for political motives.
Seven months before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for drugs. Nevertheless, organizations like the World Anti-Doping Agency accepted the findings of the official Chinese investigation, determining that these athletes unknowingly consumed prohibited substances due to contaminated food, consequentially allowing them to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.
These 23 athletes, nearly half of the Chinese swimming team sent to the Tokyo Olympics, were involved in these positive drug tests. Some of these athletes, including the double gold medalist Zhang Yufei, continue to compete for the Chinese team.
During drug testing at a domestic event in China at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021, these athletes were found to have traces of the substance Tetrahydrozoline in their bodies. This drug can enhance stamina, endurance, reduce recovery time, and improve performance. Users of this drug usually face the most severe penalties.
However, the Chinese Anti-Doping Center concluded after an investigation that these athletes inadvertently ingested Tetrahydrozoline from contaminated food, as traces of the drug were found in the hotel kitchen where they were staying at that time. Therefore, the center deemed no further action necessary against these athletes.
WADA affirmed this conclusion, refraining from penalizing the implicated athletes, allowing them to continue participating in competitions.
US officials and some experts asserted that these swimmers should have been suspended or their identities publicly disclosed, awaiting further investigation. Despite this, Chinese sports officials, the International Swimming Federation, and WADA showed a lenient stance.
On July 31st, bipartisan lawmakers from both chambers of the US Congress introduced the “2024 Restoration of Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act,” urging the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to undergo reforms to ensure a fair and transparent competitive environment for athletes.
This bill was co-sponsored by the Chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Special Committee on US-China Strategic Competition, Republican Representative John Moolenaar, and the Democratic Chief Commissioner Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, and Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.
This legislation would permanently authorize the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in the United States. If the World Anti-Doping Agency fails to ensure athletes’ participation in drug-free Olympics and Paralympics fairly and independently, the office would have the authority to withhold all US payments to the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The United States is the largest donor to the World Anti-Doping Agency. This bill would serve as a potent tool for accountability.
In 2017, former Chinese national sports team doctor Xue Yanxian fled China with 68 working journals. Xue Yanxian was a first-generation sports medical expert after the Communist Party’s founding and served as a team doctor for the national team in the 1980s. Since the late 1970s, China had seen a surge in the use of stimulants endorsed by the Communist Party, and Xue Yanxian became one of the rare dissidents within the system.
Xue Yanxian’s 68 journals contain substantial evidence of the use of stimulants on athletes in China’s sports world. Her son, Yang Weidong, compiled these journals into a book.
In the journals, Xue Yanxian documented that Chinese athletes started using banned substances in 1978. On October 11th of that year, Deputy Director Chen of the National Sports Commission presided over a meeting of the Medical Department of the Training Bureau, where Xue Yanxian, serving as the team doctor of the basketball team, was present. Chen mentioned during the meeting, since foreign countries were using stimulants, “why can’t we?” Thus, the history of Chinese athletes using banned substances began.
At that time, China had just ended the Cultural Revolution, and there was severe material scarcity, with even food requiring rations for purchase. In this context, to swiftly enhance athletes’ physical abilities and perform well in international competitions, the Communist Party opted for the use of stimulants.
The first Chinese athletes to use banned substances included the table tennis team, weightlifting team, track and field team, and swimming team. In subsequent testing phases, almost all athletes began using stimulants, including the famous Chinese volleyball spiker Lang Ping at that time. Post the use of stimulants, these athletes experienced side effects like unexplained headaches, body aches, and injuries that were not typical in sports.
Yang Weidong had previously told Dajiyuan reporters that beyond the uncovered cases of stimulant use, teams managed by the National Sports General Administration and Training Bureau, such as the table tennis team, women’s volleyball team, gymnastics team, and badminton team, were also involved in stimulant usage. The so-called “scientific training” advocated by the National Sports Commission Training Bureau was practically “stimulant training.”