Chinese Olympic Swim Team Doping Scandal | WADA Cover-Up?

23 members of the China swim team that competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics tested positive for Trimetazidine (TMZ), a substance banned from competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), but were secretly allowed to compete. Many of those athletes won medals, and some won gold medals. We’re only finding out about it because of a New York Times' report released on April 20, 2024, nearly 3 years after the event took place.
According to WebMD, TMZ "helps metabolize fatty acids, which helps your body use oxygen. The drug allows for more blood flow to your heart and limits quick changes in your blood pressure." This is obviously beneficial for athletic performance. As defined by WADA, which is responsible for overseeing drug-use in the Olympics, TMZ is banned as a “hormone and metabolic modulator.”
We’ve seen bans issued in the past due to TMZ use:
- At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Russian star figure skater Kamila Valieva had her gold medal stripped and was banned for 4 years.
- At the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, a Russian bobsledder named Nadezhda Sergeeva was also disqualified.
- In 2014, gold medalist Chinese swimmer Sun Yang tested positive and was suspended.
So what exactly went on here? It turns out China’s anti-doping agency reported that their swimmers were inadvertently exposed to trace amounts of the substance. WADA accepted these findings. A key piece of the controversy here, other than the fact that WADA seemingly swept it under the rug, is that this occurred during COVID, so WADA didn’t conduct an on-the-ground investigation like they normally would have. They stated on their website that they were “not in a position to disprove the contamination theory,” so they decided not to intervene.
On top of that, China’s swim team is no stranger to doping controversies. Between 1990 and 1998, 28 Chinese swimmers tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. You almost have to wonder if China felt emboldened after the 2019 Russian doping scandal, where the country had a wide-spread doping program among their Olympic athletes and lied about test results. Their punishment? Athletes could still compete, but not under a Russian flag. Great job, WADA.
But perhaps the juiciest bit of all of this is how defensive WADA officials have behaved since the report came out. The first public statement on their website following the report threatened the head of the U.S. anti-doping agency, Travis Tygart, who criticized WADA. In their next statement, after admitting they did not complete a thorough investigation due to COVID, WADA threatened to sue seemingly anyone reporting on the story. As further reports came out, they began to act more professional and decided to hold a press conference on the matter.
WADA YOU DOING?!
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00:00 Intro
00:33 Trimetazidine (TMZ)
01:23 China Doping Scandal
02:59 WADA's Response
04:37 Conclusion
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