PARIS, July 30, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Two Chinese swimmers, including one
scheduled to compete at the Paris Olympics, tested positive in a doping
control in 2022 but were cleared by Chinese authorities, the New York Times
reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources.

The latest report follows a major dispute in the sport around the case of 23
Chinese swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) at a domestic
competition in late 2020 and early 2021 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. They
were also cleared with food contamination given as the explanation.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has accused the World Anti-
Doping Agency (WADA) of a cover-up in an increasingly bitter dispute.

WADA has claimed that USADA's criticism is politically motivated.

In the new report, the New York Times said that Chinese authorities concluded
that a steroid had been accidentally ingested when the two swimmers ate
hamburgers in Beijing with only 'trace amounts' detected which they said was
consistent with food contamination rather than doping.

The paper said that one of the swimmers had also been part of the previously
reported case of the 23 swimmers.

The paper said that a member of the International Testing Agency (ITA), who
reviewed the case, argued that World Aquatics should have appealed the
Chinese decision to clear the swimmers.

A spokesperson for World Aquatics said: "It would not be appropriate for
World Aquatics to comment on this case in detail, but World Aquatics can
confirm that it never received any recommendation from the ITA to appeal the
case."

The paper cited the ITA as denying they had made such a recommendation.

Global anti-doping watchdog WADA did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.