New suspicions about Chinese swimmers doping at the Paris 2024 Olympics

China has never been among the countries that have excelled in swimming at the Olympics, like nations such as the United States, Australia, Germany, Hungary or Japan have done throughout history. However, in Paris 2024, the communist regime's delegation has stunned, achieving, so far, a dozen medals and even beating some world records, as is the case of swimmer Pan Zhanle, who recorded a new best mark in the 100 meter freestyle.

The performance of Chinese swimmers in these Olympics, who have managed to end the American dominance in the men's 4x100 event, has revived and accentuated suspicions about whether they are doping or not. China was already embroiled in a scandal over this illegal practice, when it became known that 23 competitors tested positive at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Zhanle was one of them. So was Zhang Yufei, who won six medals for China in Paris.

Contamination of food, the explanation given by China

When the controversy came to light, the Chinese Olympic Committee was quick to respond. The institution assured that the 23 swimmers who tested positive were due to the contamination of some food they had eaten. Chinese swimmers won six medals in Tokyo, three of them gold.

This argument was accepted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which ended up forgiving the athletes involved and not subjecting them to a harsh sanction, such as banning them for life from participating in the Olympics, apart from the corresponding financial fine.

US criticism of WADA

From the United States, the criticism against WADA for exonerating those swimmers, who, as is the case of Zhanle, are participating in Paris 2024, were not long in coming.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy was the first to criticize WADA, later joined by the Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

"It’s crushing to see that 23 Chinese swimmers had positive tests for a potent performance-enhancing drug on the eve of the 2021 Olympic Games, as reported by the New York Times and ARD. It’s even more devastating to learn the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency secretly, until now, swept these positives under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world. Our hearts ache for the athletes from the countries who were impacted by this potential cover-up and who may have lost podium moments, financial opportunities, and memories with family that can never be replaced. They have been deeply and painfully betrayed by the system. All of those with dirty hands in burying positive tests and suppressing the voices of courageous whistleblowers must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the rules and law," said Travis T. Tygart, USADA's executive director.

Joining the criticism from institutions were sports legends such as Michael Phelps. The former swimmer and most-decorated athlete in Olympic history appeared before Congress to state that "as athletes, we can no longer blindly trust the World Anti-Doping Agency, which continues to prove itself incapable or unwilling to enforce its policies consistently around the world."

Swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine

Specifically, the substance the Chinese swimmers tested positive for was trimetazidine (TMZ), which is banned by WADA.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), TMZ is used to treat angina pectoris and other cardiorespiratory pathologies. This substance "stimulates glucose oxidation" and thus "optimizes myocardial energy metabolism and cardiac function in an ischemic condition." In short, TMZ benefits  high-performance athletes, reducing their tiredness and muscle fatigue and "mak[ing] your heart work more efficiently" as Dr. Elizabeth Murray said in statements reported by CNN.

Apart from the exposed case, in 2014 there was already another incident involving China and TMZ. Swimmer Sun Yang was banned for three months for testing positive for this substance.