PARIS — If swimming’s global leaders expected the stain of this year’s Chinese doping controversy to fade once the world’s best swimmers converged for the Paris Olympics, those hopes have been exposed as premature and wishful, if not naive.
Asked during a news conference Thursday whether he feels the nine-day meet will be a clean one, American sprint superstar Caeleb Dressel replied flatly: “No, not really. I don’t think [the authorities] have given us enough evidence to support” that belief.
Australian breaststroker Zac Stubblety-Cook went even further, saying the drug-testing system has “failed” and suggesting he might make a public protest on the medal stand at Paris La Défense Arena should he lose to China’s Qin Haiyang, who already took down Stubblety-Cook’s 200-meter record at last year’s world championships.
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End of carouselQin, 25, is one of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in January 2021 but were nonetheless allowed to compete, with their positive tests kept from the public, after the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) accepted China’s explanation of environmental contamination. Thirteen of the 23, including Qin, swam at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I’m a clean athlete, and I’m trying to abide by the rules,” said Stubblety-Cook, 25, the gold medalist in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, “and I just hope my competitors do the same.”
The existence of the positive tests was reported in April by the New York Times and German public broadcaster ARD. WADA’s actions, or inaction, in the case have come under intense international scrutiny, particularly from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). WADA, meanwhile, has said an independent review vindicated its processes — though that has done little to restore the faith of athletes, with many of those implicated swimmers set to compete in Paris.
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“That news when it came out was incredibly disappointing and incredibly frustrating,” Bronte Campbell, a veteran Australian sprinter, said Thursday. “[But there’s] nothing we can do about it two days before an Olympic Games.”
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The scandal shows no signs of abating as Friday’s Opening Ceremonies and Saturday’s start to the Olympic swim competition approach. On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee’s awarding of the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City was made contingent upon the requirement that American officials block an FBI investigation into the affair — a move widely viewed as a heavy-handed attempt to silence critics.
But while the backlash against WADA and the IOC over the Chinese doping saga has been viewed in some parts of the world as a shrill and moralistic American crusade, Australia’s Stubblety-Cook delivered what was arguably the most powerful statement by an athlete yet over the handling of the case.
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“It’s obviously disappointing to hear that news and hear about the … athletes testing positive — some multiple times,” he said. “And for me, racing someone that was one of those athletes and finding out he was one of those athletes was disappointing. It’s less about what country they came from and more about the system and how … ultimately it feels like it’s failed. And that’s the truth.”
Stubblety-Cook cited by name the stipulation in the Olympic charter prohibiting protests by athletes on the medal stand: Rule 50, which states, “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
Despite that, he said, he said he probably will defer a decision on whether to make a protest against Qin on the medal stand until the day of their race, the final for which is slated for July 31.
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“Potentially, we could see protests in other events, as well,” he added.
Officials from World Aquatics — swimming’s international governing body, which largely has backed WADA’s handling of the Chinese doping case — revealed last week that its athletes (in disciplines that include not only swimming, but also diving, water polo and artistic swimming) have undergone a total of 4,774 pre-Olympics drug tests this year, with no confirmed positives. China’s Olympic swimmers, according to World Aquatics, have been tested the most, undergoing an average of 13 tests apiece.
Still, Brent Nowicki, World Aquatics’ executive director, acknowledged the organization has been stung by the criticism from its athletes, particularly that of Dressel, a seven-time Olympic gold medalist who will be seeking to defend his 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly titles in Paris.
“When you hear someone like Caeleb say that, obviously it’s not what you want any athlete to say,” Nowicki said. “But that said, we have to … regain his trust and [that of others] who share that same opinion. I would invite you to ask that same question to Caeleb in L.A. [at the 2028 Olympics], and my goal or my hope is that his mind changes.”
correction
A previous version of this article incorrectly said that 11 of the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine competed at the Tokyo Olympics. Thirteen competed in Tokyo. The article has been corrected.
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