Another Chinese Olympic doping scandal hurts swimmers who play by the rules

PARIS — The Chinese doping controversies seem to be coming along as fast as Seine River pollution updates at these Olympic Games. As soon as we are talking about one, here comes another. 

While this sounds laughable, there is absolutely nothing funny about it. Chinese swimmers who are not playing by the rules are potentially taking medals from those swimmers who are. And it’s all happening in real time, right here, right now, in front of all of us. 

As you’ll recall, the last big Chinese doping controversy involved the World Anti-Doping Agency and Chinese officials who did not reveal the positive drug tests of 23 Chinese swimmers who ended up competing several months later at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, winning three gold medals. Eleven of those swimmers are here at the 2024 Paris Games; some have already won medals. 

Now, we have another Chinese doping scandal, dumped right on the pool deck here at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The New York Times reported Tuesday that two more swimmers from China tested positive for an anabolic steroid (a different drug than in the other scandal) in late 2022 but were cleared after officials decided to blame contaminated meat from hamburgers the swimmers apparently ate. 

One of the swimmers is Tang Muhan, who is expected to compete in the women’s 4 x 200 freestyle relay against Katie Ledecky and her U.S. teammates, among others, on Thursday. Two other members of that Chinese relay team, Zhang Yufei and Yang Junxuan, were among the 23 who tested positive in 2021. Both of them — Zhang and Yang — won the bronze medal in the women’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay Saturday night in these Olympics, behind Australia and the United States. Zhang has already won another bronze behind Americans Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh in the 100 butterfly Sunday. 

With Tang, Zhang and Yang all on the Chinese relay team here, that means 75 percent of that team that millions will be watching swim against the Americans and the Australians on Thursday had positive drug tests hidden so they could keep competing. This is absolutely outrageous, but here we are.

In 2021 in the same relay in Tokyo, China defeated the United States by 4/10ths of a second for the gold medal, just holding off the hard-charging Ledecky in the anchor leg. Zhang, Yang and Tang were on that Chinese team. Thursday’s race already was considered one of the biggest of these Games prior to this breaking news. It now is so much more important. 

The other swimmer in this new controversy, He Junyi, is a twofer. He also was among the 23 swimmers in the original doping controversy but he is not competing at the Paris Olympics. 

In both doping scandals, China’s Anti-Doping Agency did not disclose the positive drug tests as required under anti-doping rules, even in cases where contamination is considered a possibility. 

The case of the 23 Chinese swimmers also involves contamination: weirdly, the storyline is that trimetazidine, a heart medication that comes in pill form and can enhance performance in athletes, somehow ended up as a powder spread around a kitchen in a hotel where the swimmers were staying in late December 2020 and the first days of January 2021. 

This also is the same drug that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva took before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Her story is that it was her grandfather’s medication that somehow worked its way into a strawberry dessert that he was making for her.  

I mean, whatever. 

China’s coverup is appalling but not necessarily surprising considering how badly it wants to win medals, come what may. But WADA? The world’s sports doping police also failed to publicly disclose either situation. Were it not for journalists, we still might not know about either. 

WADA seems to be keeping a lot of secrets these days. If you want to do something bad and not have anyone learn about it, definitely tell WADA.

Throughout it all, who is thinking about the athletes who are playing by the rules?

“It’s crushing news to wake up to for all athletes and fans of the Olympic movement that the failures of the global anti-doping system have overshadowed what should be a moment to bring the world together,” U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said in a statement Tuesday. "China seemingly has the playbook to compete under a different set of rules tilting the field in their favor. The failed leadership of the anti-doping system has allowed one country special treatment at the very time we should all be united behind the Olympic values of fair play and respect for all fellow competitors."

Tygart added: "Not only will the upcoming swimming relay event be tarnished given that China swept this positive test for a hard-core steroid under the rug, but with it coming on the heels of WADA also allowing China to bury 23 positive tests of swimmers, clean athletes’ hopes and dreams have been stolen by these failures.”

For generations, elite international swimmers have been cheated out of medals by the doping regimes of East Germany, Russia, China and others. Often, the athletes suspected as much, but didn’t receive confirmation until later. 

If there is anything positive about these twin Chinese doping scandals, it’s that at least now they know as it’s happening.