Hantering of the Chinese doping scandal in swimming continues to raise questions ahead of the Olympics.
It was in April that The New York Times, ARD, and The Daily Telegraph revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for doping in January 2021 – six months before the Olympics in Tokyo.
The test results contained traces of the heart medication trimetazidin (TMZ), the same substance that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was caught with at the 2022 Olympics.
However, the amounts were so small that the Chinese anti-doping agency dismissed the doping and claimed that the swimmers had ingested the substance through contaminated food.
A fact that was also bought by the international anti-doping agency Wada.
But everything was swept under the rug.
Last weekend, American superstar Katie Ledecky, with seven Olympic gold medals in her career, commented on the case in an interview with CBS.
She said among other things:
Both Sarah Sjöström, on the 50-meter freestyle, and Louise Hansson, on the 100-meter butterfly, can be matched against the Chinese freestyle and butterfly star Zhang Yufei in the Olympics.
She is one of the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive in the doping test.
Zhang Yufei won two gold and two silver medals at the Olympics in Tokyo, won the world championship gold on the 100-meter butterfly in Fukuoka last year and won the world championship bronze on the 50-meter freestyle.
Both Sjöström and Hansson are questioning why the whole case was covered up by Wada and other parties.
Wada has received harsh criticism, not least from the American anti-doping agency (USADA).
After the criticism, Wada has appointed an independent investigator for the case.
The investigation is expected to be completed before the Olympics.
IOC President Thomas Bach told news agency AFP recently that the Chinese swimmers who tested positive in 2021 will not be stopped from participating in the Olympics in Paris.
