Paris Olympics: Chinese swimmers targeted for double drug testing, World Aquatics says
- While other swimmers will be tested four times between January 1 and the start of the Olympics, China’s will be tested at least eight times
Chinese swimmers have been targeted twice as much as their rivals for drug testing in the run-up to the Paris Olympics, World Aquatics revealed on Monday.
The world governing body also said it had tried to keep any samples away from the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (Chinada) and testing laboratories inside the country, ahead of the Games.
While swimmers “from specific nations” were expected to be tested four times between January 1 and the opening of the Olympics on July 26, China’s would be “tested no less than eight times”, officials said.
In April, it was reported that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) at a domestic competition in 2021 – shortly before the Tokyo Olympics.
Chinese anti-doping authorities determined they had ingested the substance unwittingly from tainted food at their hotel and no action against them was warranted.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) accepted the argument of the Chinese authorities and did not sanction the swimmers, 11 of whom have been selected for the Paris Olympics, which start this month.
