Chinese swimmers were allowed to start in the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: Rick Bowmer / AP / NTB
Of NTB | 20.04.2024 10:00:22
Sport: It is the Australian newspaper Daily Telegraph, German ARD and the New York Times that on Saturday wrote that the swimmers in question tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
The samples with the heart medication were given during a training camp that was held a few months before the start of the Tokyo Games in 2021. As is known, the championship was postponed for a year as a result of the covid pandemic.
Chinese anti-doping authorities initially concluded that the doping tests contained abnormal analytical findings (AAF), but later acquitted the swimmers of punishment after investigations showed that the tests were exposed to so-called contamination.
The 30-member Chinese swimmers won six medals in Tokyo, including three golds.
The Daily Telegraph writes that the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the International Swimming Federation were notified of the positive tests, but that they too stood behind the conclusion that the positive test results were caused by contamination.
– The International Swimming Federation is convinced that these AAFs were handled thoroughly and professionally, and in accordance with all applicable anti-doping regulations, including the World Anti-Doping Code, the International Swimming Federation writes in a statement to the Daily Telegraph.
Wada’s director of science and medicine, Professor Olivier Rabin, also points out that Wada’s science department reviewed the case in the months leading up to the Tokyo Games.
– We even obtained pharmacokinetic and metabolism information from the manufacturer (of trimetazidine) to assess the plausibility of the contamination scenario presented to Eada, says Rabin.
The conclusion was that there was no concrete basis for challenging the presented theory of pollution.
Instead, the contamination scenario is said to have been further supported by the fact that the samples contained a low concentration of trimetazidine, as well as the fact that the athletes in question submitted several samples that fluctuated between coming out negative and positive.
(© NTB)