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China calls swimmer doping reports 'fake news'

Agence France-Presse

<p>BEIJING, China -- Beijing on Monday called reports about 23 Chinese swimmers testing positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 &quot;fake news&quot;.</p><p>The sport was rocked at the weekend by revelations that the swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) -- a prescription heart drug that is banned in athletes because it can enhance performance -- before the Games three years ago.</p><p>The swimmers were allowed to compete in Tokyo after world governing bodies accepted China&#x27;s findings that they had ingested it unwittingly from food during a competition in late 2020 and early 2021.</p><p>Several went on to win medals, including gold, and many are in line to compete at the Paris Olympics this summer.</p><p>China&#x27;s foreign ministry on Monday hit back at the widespread reports, which first emerged in the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD on Saturday and cited a review of confidential documents and emails.</p><p>&quot;The relevant reports are fake news and not factual,&quot; said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.</p><p>World anti-doping agency WADA has said there was &quot;a lack of any credible evidence&quot; to challenge China&#x27;s version of events.</p><p>&quot;I believe you will also have noted that the World Anti-Doping Agency has put out a very clear response,&quot; Wang said.</p><p>However, the United States Anti-Doping Agency called news of the failed tests &quot;crushing&quot; and has blasted WADA&#x27;s response as &quot;a devastating stab in the back of clean athletes&quot;.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/2/23/marcos-urges-ph-compliance-with-world-anti-doping-code-2010">READ: Marcos urges PH compliance with World Anti-Doping Code</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/3/26/psc-looks-to-strengthen-anti-doping-program-1636">READ: PSC looks to strengthen anti-doping program</a></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Detailed&#x27; probe -</strong></div><p>Wang said China&#x27;s anti-doping center conducted an &quot;in-depth and detailed&quot; probe into the incident, which found the athletes had ingested contaminated drugs &quot;without their knowledge&quot;.</p><p>&quot;The Chinese swimmers involved were neither at fault nor guilty of negligence, and their behavior did not constitute a doping violation,&quot; he told a regular press conference in Beijing.</p><p>&quot;After an investigation, WADA affirmed the findings of the China anti-doping center.&quot;</p><p>An Australian coach who works with the Chinese Swimming Association also rejected claims of systemic state-run doping, saying it is &quot;so far from anything I have seen&quot;.</p><p>Denis Cotterell, who has coached drug-tainted Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, told The Sydney Morning Herald he disputed &quot;any suggestion of anything orchestrated&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Am I confident that it&#x27;s not dastardly? Not for one minute (do I believe that). I wouldn&#x27;t be here (if it was),&quot; Cotterell told the newspaper by phone from the pool deck of the Chinese Olympic trials in Shenzhen, in comments published Monday.</p><p>&quot;I am happy to say I&#x27;m absolutely in support of my swimmers and dispute any suggestion of anything orchestrated,&quot; the 74-year-old said.</p><p>Cotterell, who has had an on-off association with Chinese swimming for more than a decade, said he was speaking from first-hand experience.</p><p>&quot;I see what they (the swimmers) go through, I see the measures, I can tell you the stories. I know the facts and I am comfortable,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;The suggestion that it&#x27;s systemic is so far from anything I have seen here the whole time.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/3/19/philippines-out-of-int-l-anti-doping-watchlist-2344">READ: Philippines out of int&#x27;l anti-doping watchlist</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/25/23/up-to-200-athletes-tested-for-doping-so-far-at-asian-games">READ: Up to 200 athletes tested for doping so far at Asian Games</a></div><div><strong>- Checkered history -</strong></div><p>ARD aired a documentary on the subject Sunday, with the Montreal-based WADA issuing a fresh statement afterwards.</p><p>&quot;The agency still stands firmly by the results of its scientific investigation and legal decision concerning the case,&quot; it said.</p><p>Wang said the Chinese government &quot;consistently upholds a resolutely zero-tolerance position when it comes to doping&quot;, adding China upholds &quot;fair competition&quot; in sport.</p><p>Chinese swimming has a checkered doping history. Seven Chinese swimmers tested positive for steroids at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima.</p><p>In 1998, swimmer Yuan Yuan was banned after Australian customs officers discovered a large stash of human growth hormone in her bags at the world championships in Perth.</p><p>More recently, three-time Olympic champion Sun is just about to finish a second doping ban. His first, in 2014, was for taking TMZ.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Beijing on Monday called reports about 23 Chinese swimmers testing positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 "fake news".</p>

Beijing on Monday called reports about 23 Chinese swimmers testing positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 "fake news".

China calls swimmer doping reports 'fake news'

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China calls swimmer doping reports 'fake news'

Agence France-Presse,

James EDGAR

Published Apr 22, 2024 05:51 PM PHT

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Updated Apr 22, 2024 07:37 PM PHT

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abssports

swimming

doping

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United States Anti-Doping Agency

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