Enhanced Testing Protocol for Chinese Swimmers Ahead of Paris.

Posted 2 months ago

Chinese swimmers participating in the Paris Olympic Games will undergo double the amount of drug testing compared to athletes from certain other countries.

In recent months, doping authorities have faced scrutiny following revelations that 23 swimmers tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) and were later cleared to compete in the Tokyo Games.

Among them, eleven swimmers tested positive at a training camp seven months before the postponed 2021 Games and have been selected for Paris.

The World Aquatics governing body conducted a review acknowledging that trust in the anti-doping system had been undermined by the handling of these cases.

As a response, the International Testing Agency (ITA) has committed to conducting eight tests on Chinese athletes, twice the standard amount, from early 2024 leading up to the Paris Games. Moreover, efforts will be made to ensure these tests are administered by an authority other than the China Anti-Doping Agency (Chinada) and analyzed outside of China.

This heightened scrutiny aims to reassure athletes amidst concerns raised by Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian, about the enforcement of anti-doping policies by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).