The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has issued two statements in response, defending its position of allowing the 23 Chinese swimmers involved to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. On Monday, local time in the United States, WADA held an online press conference to respond to questions from all parties.
Zhang Yufei and Li Bingjie teamed up with teammates Yang Junxuan, Tang Muhan, Dong Jie and Zhang Yifan to win the gold medal in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics
WADA confirmed that the New York Times reported on Saturday that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned drug trimetazidine a month before they competed in the Tokyo Olympics. Witold Banka, president of WADA, said, "WADA has followed the proper procedures in every process of this incident and investigated every clue. If we had to do it again, we'd do exactly the same. "We carefully examine the decision of the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) from every aspect, trace every piece of evidence, and gather further information." "In this case, we have followed the procedures and there is no room for improvement." ”
At the Tokyo Olympics, Zhang Yufei won the gold medal in the women's 200m butterfly and the silver medal in the 100m butterfly
WADA disclosed more details of the case at a press conference, including a report from the Chinese Anti-Doping Organization that the 23 swimmers who tested positive for the drug were all staying at the same hotel, and that trimetazidine residues were found in the hotel's kitchen, lobby extraction system and drains.
However, all the athletes had only a small amount of trimetazidine and hovered between negative and positive reactions, which was inconsistent with the reaction to deliberately taking banned drugs, so the Chinese Anti-Doping Organization ruled that the 23 swimmers tested positive for drugs "as a result of environmental contamination of food", decided not to take further action, and informed WADA of the relevant decision. WADA's scientific department found that the case was not suspicious and therefore did not require follow-up, and legal experts agreed that the Court of Arbitration for Sport may not guarantee that the case would be overturned.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Wang Shun won the gold medal in the men's 200m medley
WADA did not announce the names of the 23 Chinese swimmers involved in the case, and the Chinese swimming team sent a total of 30 swimmers to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, winning 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze, a total of 6 medals, and a total of 9 swimmers on the podium. Among them, Wang Shun won the gold medal in the men's 200-meter medley, Zhang Yufei won the gold medal in the women's 200-meter butterfly and the silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly, Li Bingjie won the bronze in the women's 400-meter freestyle, Zhang Yufei and Li Bingjie won the gold medal in the women's 4X200-meter freestyle relay together with teammates Yang Junxuan, Tang Muhan, Dong Jie and Zhang Yifan, Zhang Yufei, Yang Junxuan, Xu Jiayu and Yan Zibei cooperated to win silver in the mixed 4X100-meter mixed relay, most of these nine Chinese swimmers are expected to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics.