© Copyright – 2024 – Athletics Illustrated

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is getting a severe tongue-lashing from the global sports community in regards to the Chinese doping case. The case is about 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for the same banned performance-enhancing drug (PED) in advance of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Several of the athletes won medals. The drug was trimetazidine (TMZ).

A New York Times story and ARD TV broadcast last weekend allege that WADA had failed to police Chinese athletes, as well as their anti-doping authorities.

Lead investigative journalist Hajo Seppelt with ARD TV told Athletics Illustrated during a phone call Wednesday that WADA, faced with the evidence, “chose to take the word of the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA),” who maintained that the contact was environmental. Although CHINADA refers to an investigation that they carried out, Seppelt doubts its veracity.

“At the same time, they limit the scope of the investigation to – I would call it – a minimum.”

Eric Cottier with 39 years of experience, will review the entire case and present his findings within the next couple of months.

WADA has tasked Cottier to present his opinion on two main questions:

  1. Is there any indication of bias towards China, undue interference or other impropriety in WADA’s assessment of the decision by CHINADA not to bring forward anti-doping rule violations against the 23 Chinese swimmers?
  2. Based on a review of the case file related to the decision by CHINADA not to bring forward anti-doping rule violations against the 23 Chinese swimmers, as well as any other elements that WADA had at its disposal, was the decision by WADA not to challenge on appeal the contamination scenario put forward by CHINADA a reasonable one?

Tygart’s response, “It’s hard to view this as anything other than a whitewash given the ongoing threats and attacks. Clearly, it’s precooked. WADA’s statement exemplifies the problem with the current system. WADA does not follow its own rules, and then it gets to handpick an attorney from its own backyard and also sets the scope of that handpicked attorney’s review.”

It is difficult to believe that WADA can set the parameters of the investigation with their own carefully worded questions.

Anti-Doping Database, Sport Integrity Australia, SwimSwam, Swimming Canada, and Swimming GB among many other national sport organizations have made statements regarding the case in China.

Fox guarding the henhouse

The Associated Press reported that China “donated” $2 million USD (€ 1.87 million) above its annual fees to WADA one and two years leading up to the Olympic Games. The alleged fox in the yard? The WADA vice president is Yang Yang from China. He was elected in 2019.

The United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart didn’t hold back. He is calling the alleged malfeasance as a “potential cover-up.”

Tygart said, “They effectively swept this under the carpet because they didn’t find a violation, they didn’t announce a violation, they didn’t disqualify the athletes from the event.”

“WADA’s latest statement exemplifies the problem with the current system. On its face, it sends the message that this is just a circle the wagons exercise to protect the system. It sends the message that the global regulator does not follow its own rules and then it gets to cherry-pick an attorney from its own backyard without any independent athlete input or participation.”

ARD journalist Nick Butler wrote on social media, “When asked about the case, USADA chief executive Travis Tygart spoke of “shocking revelations” and a “sharp knife in the back of clean athletes.” He told ARD how, for him, the case “reeks of a cover-up at the highest levels of the World Anti-Doping Agency.”

WADA’s response to the ARD documentary

As per a statement published on the WADA website, “Based on all available scientific evidence and intelligence, which was gathered, assessed and tested by experts in the pharmacology of trimetazidine (TMZ); and, by anti-doping experts, the Agency had no basis under the World Anti-Doping Code to challenge the China Anti-Doping Agency’s (CHINADA’s) findings of environmental contamination – a position that was also accepted by World Aquatics.”   

The full statement is available here.

So far, there appears to be no explanation as to how TMZ entered the athlete’s bodies. CHINADA claims that traces were found in the kitchen of a hotel where some team members were staying for a domestic competition in late 2020 or early 2021. 

CHINADA alerted WADA but argued that the positive results registered an “extremely low concentration” of TMZ. WADA apparently took their word for it faced with COVID-19 travel restrictions at the time. However, in 2014 three-time Olympic gold medallist Sun Yang began serving the first of two doping bans after failing a test for TMZ.

China didn’t win all of the medals in swimming

In fairness, the Chinese Swimming Association athletes did not win all swim or aquatic medals at the 2020 (2021) Tokyo Olympic Games. In fact, with 1.4 billion population, they were beaten by much smaller countries.

The US was number one with 11 gold, 10 silver and nine bronze for a total of 30. Second was Australia with 9-3-8 to take 20 (pop. 26 million). Great Britain took 4-3-1 for eight and China finished fourth with a count of 3-2-1 for a total of six. However, China did finish first in diving. The nation earned 7-5-0 for 12. Double the total of Great Britain and the US combined, who finished second and third, respectively.

In another “judged” event artistic swimming, Russia under the thinly veiled brand of ROC for the Russian Olympic Committee during their supposed ban finished first, China second and Ukraine third.

Shades of Russian systematic doping

This isn’t going away anytime soon.

Again, it is the media that outs the perpetrators. ARD TV, the Guardian, the New York Times and Athletics Illustrated among others reported on Russian systematic doping, which was first aired in two ARD documentaries. It started in 2010 with Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RusAF) employee Vitaly Stepanov — husband of doped athlete Yuliya Stepanova, an 800m specialist — sending information to WADA.

Russian discus thrower, Darya Pishchalnikova, sent an email to WADA containing details of the state-run doping program in Russia. The New York Times reported that the email had reached three top WADA officials. WADA decided to not investigate but instead forwarded her email to Russian sports officials. RusAF, it is alleged, banned Pishchalnikova for 10 years in retaliation for her message to WADA.

From the ashes of the blowup of the Russian doping crisis came two tell-all biographies, one from Stepanov titled The Russian Affair and the other from Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov titled The Rodchenkov Affair. He was the mastermind behind the Sochi Olympic scandal. Rodchenkov was also featured in the documentary Icarus.

The Rodchenkov effect resulted in the US creating the first criminal law against doping called the Rodchenkov Act. Its first charge and conviction was handed out this year when Texas-based massage therapist Eric Lira was sentenced to three months in jail and fined $16,410.

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