Doping of Chinese swimmers: AMA invited an independent prosecutor to investigate their actions in the face of the accusations

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that an independent prosecutor will be responsible for investigating their actions in the midst of various accusations after it became known that 23 swimmers from China tested positive for doping in early 2021, a few months before the Tokyo Olympics, and were not sanctioned. The complaint was made by the German television program Geheimsache Doping (Top Secret Doping, in Spanish) and the American newspaper The New York Times.

“In light of the harmful and unfounded accusations that are being made, the AMA has responded to the calls and invited an independent prosecutor, Mr. Eric Cottier, to carry out a comprehensive review of the AMA’s handling of the matter,” said the body chaired by Witold Bańka, who said that “the integrity and reputation of the AMA are under attack.”

“In recent days, AMA has been unfairly accused of being biased in favor of China by not appealing the CHINADA case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We continue to reject false accusations and are pleased to be able to place these questions in the hands of an experienced, respected and independent prosecutor. I thank the members of the AMA Executive Committee for meeting at such short notice and for their support in this matter,” Bańka added.

For his part, the director general of the AMA, Olivier Niggli, said that “although not a shred of evidence has been presented to support any of the accusations made against the AMA, we want to address the matter as quickly and thoroughly as possible so that it can be properly handled before the next Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris.”

The decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency to invite prosecutor Cottier to conduct an investigation into his actions comes in response to statements from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which accused the agency of hiding that all 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a prescription heart medication that improves sports performance. In China, they claimed that the samples were contaminated and AMA found no evidence to determine anything different.

“The selective and interested application of the rules we heard yesterday destroys public trust in the authenticity and value of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement,” USADA said in a statement and rejected that the case had not been referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS): “The will of the AMA to blindfold and handcuff itself and to maintain that it would do the same again is another stab in the back to clean up the athletes.”

“All the athletes, sponsors and fans of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement deserve a true global watchdog that has the teeth and the determination to apply the rules uniformly and fairly. We call on governments and the sports movement to review the AMA and ensure that the concealment of positive signs on the eve of the Olympic Games does not happen again,” said USADA.

Before the USADA accusations, the AMA pointed to the executive director of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart: “They are politically motivated and are designed to undermine the work of the AMA to protect clean sports around the world. The AMA notes that the harmful comments have been made without any supporting evidence.”

The doping of the 23 Chinese swimmers: the chronology of the events

In June 2021, the AMA was notified by the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) that a group of swimmers had tested positive for TMZ earlier that year and the argument was contamination. The drug, whose main property is to improve heart function by increasing blood flow, has been banned since 2014 and, for example, earned Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva a four-year sanction.

The positive doping came after controls that were carried out at a competition in the Chinese province of Hebei, a few months before the Tokyo 2020 Games, which took place a year later due to the pandemic. Precisely, the AMA stated that the investigation could not be carried out “on the territory” due to the restrictions due to Covid-19. Zhang Yufei (champion in the 200-meter butterfly and three other medals), Yang Yunxuan (champion in 200 combined) and Wang Shun (champion in 4x200 freestyle) were some of those involved who were present in the Japanese capital.

The AMA conducted the investigation during June and July 2021. The agency’s senior director of Science and Medicine, Olivier Rabin, explained: “The scientific department of the AMA thoroughly reviewed this case. We even asked the manufacturer for new pharmacokinetic and metabolic information on TMZ and tested several hypotheses, including low-dose TMZ doping strategies, to assess the plausibility of the contamination scenario presented to the AMA. Ultimately, we concluded that there was no concrete basis for questioning the alleged contamination.” For this reason, the swimmers were not blamed and 13 of the 23 participated in Tokyo.

As early as 2022, the International Testing Agency raised problems with WADA regarding a possible erroneous reporting of TMZ samples, something that was independently reviewed by the AMA Department of Intelligence and Investigations, which concluded that appropriate procedures had been followed. There was no evidence of irregularities.

In April 2023, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) sent an email to the AMA: from an “unspecified source” it had learned about the positive cases of TMZ and accused the agency of hiding the information. In 2020, there had already been a similar contact, also from an unspecified source, about doping in China.

Over the weekend, the German show Geheimsache and The New York Times announced what happened in June 2021. The AMA responded that it had reviewed the case “professionally and thoroughly, both from a scientific and legal perspective,” and explained that it “had no evidence to challenge the environmental pollution scenario that led CHINADA to close these cases in June 2021.” And he stated that, in the absence of evidence, he decided not to bring the situation to the TAS. In China, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Wenbin, was in charge of speaking: “The relevant reports are fake news and not factual. I think you’ve also noticed that the World Anti-Doping Agency has given a very clear answer.” The International Olympic Committee (IOC), so far, has not officially ruled on the case.