Anti-drug agencies in war of words over Chinese tests

Revelation that world body knew 23 swimmers had failed substance checks sparks fury in US

Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished have sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the head of the US drug-fighting organisation, who has long been one of the global body’s fiercest critics.

Wada has turned to legal counsel to address a statement by Travis Tygart, the CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), who said the world and antidoping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world”.

The allegation was made after Wada acknowledged it had cleared 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for a banned heart medication to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after agreeing with that country’s authorities that the samples had been contaminated.

Wada defended its process, and said it acted in good faith and according to due process when it decided not to challenge the Chinese explanation for the positives. It then turned its attention to Tygart, saying his comments were politically motivated and that it was “astonished by the outrageous, completely false and defamatory remarks” he made.

The global body pointed out the USADA had, several times over the years, accepted “similar conclusions of contamination involving a number of US athletes” and that Tygart “should realise that it is not only American athletes who can fall victim to situations of no-fault contamination”.

Tygart came back with another statement, noting the difference between his organisation’s handling of contamination cases and this one. The Chinese case involves a medication called trimetazidine (TMZ), the same drug taken by banned Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva before the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022.

A well-known prescription medication for people with heart disease, TMZ is known to help athletes improve stamina and decrease recovery times. Its use comes with the most stringent penalties under anti-doping rules.

Tygart said USADA’s previous contamination cases had not involved TMZ.

“And, most importantly, in all contamination cases that we have proven, we provisionally suspended the athlete, disqualified the results, found a violation, and issued an announcement as required by the rules,” he said.

None of that happened in the case of the Chinese swimmers, whose cases were not publicly revealed until reports by The New York Times and Daily Telegraph in Sydney surfaced on Saturday.

In explaining its handling of the case, Wada conceded there were difficulties in conducting investigations in China because of Covid restrictions in place in early 2021 when the positive tests were uncovered. It said it consulted lawyers who advised that appealing the case was not warranted.

All of those with dirty hands in burying positive tests … must be held accountable TRAVIS TYGART, CEO OF THE U.S. ANTI-DOPING AGENCY

The disagreement is the latest chapter in years of sparring between Wada and Tygart, who has long felt it did not go tough enough on Russia after its government-sponsored doping scheme at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 was uncovered.

Another undercurrent of this case is the chance it could wind up in American court. Under a US law enacted in 2020 that was widely criticised by Wada, federal prosecutors can bring charges in doping cases that show a conspiracy to taint an international event involving US athletes.

“All of those with dirty hands in burying positive tests and suppressing the voices of courageous whistle-blowers must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the rules and law,” Tygart said.