Over the weekend we learned that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance just 7 months before the 2021 Olympics. But China came up with an excuse, claiming the hearth drug TMZ had been ingested by the athletes unwittingly because it was present in the kitchen of a hotel they were staying at. 

China never did explain why a prescription heart medication was found in a hotel kitchen and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) couldn't dispute the story because in 2021 China was completely shut down because of the pandemic. But several of those Chinese swimmers went on to win gold medals and now that the doping has been revealed, people are understandably angry.

The Times identified five events at the Tokyo Games in which Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for a banned substance won medals, including three golds.

Paige Madden, a member of the U.S. 4x200 freestyle relay team that finished second to China with a time that was faster than the previous world record, said in a text message to The New York Times she hoped that the handling of the doping case would be investigated and a reallocation of medals considered.

“We had to applaud China’s efforts that day,” she said of being beaten by a faster team. “Today however, I feel that Team USA was cheated. We didn’t get to celebrate our world record, and we didn’t get our team moment to be on the top of the podium to watch our flag and sing the national anthem.”

Olympic swimmer James Guy's response to the news was "Ban them all."

Wow. Ban them all and never compete again. pic.twitter.com/ULqS6SKpNw

— James Guy (@Jimbob95goon) April 20, 2024

For its part, WADA defended its handling of the case and suggesting the news coverage of the incident was "defamatory." [emphasis in original]

Following some misleading and potentially defamatory media coverage this week, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) wishes to provide more information in relation to a group of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) in 2021.

WADA was notified in June 2021 of the decision by the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) to accept that the swimmers had tested positive in early 2021 for TMZ after inadvertently being exposed to the substance through contamination. As it always does, WADA carefully reviewed the decision and, in this instance, requested the full case file. As part of its review, WADA collected additional, unpublished scientific information on TMZ and consulted with independent scientific experts to test the contamination theory and also whether low doses of TMZ could have benefited the athletes during a swimming competition event. During this review process, which spanned several weeks, scientists and external legal counsel thoroughly put the contamination theory presented by CHINADA to the test. It was not possible for WADA scientists or investigators to conduct their enquiries on the ground in China given the extreme restrictions in place due to a COVID-related lockdown. WADA ultimately concluded that it was not in a position to disprove the possibility that contamination was the source of TMZ and it was compatible with the analytical data in the file. WADA also concluded that, given the specific circumstances of the asserted contamination, the athletes would be held to have no fault or negligence. As such, and based on the advice of external counsel, WADA considered that an appeal was not warranted...

Following the misleading information that has been published this week, including on social media, WADA reserves its right to take legal action as appropriate.

That reaction didn't go over well with British Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty:

1. Why not release this information at the time, who really benefits from the lack of transparency and secrecy?

2. What happened to strict liability? Whether someone benefits or not, surely at this scale it proves it’s systematic?

So disappointing from WADA. https://t.co/DiWlqCWX4h

— Adam Peaty OBE (@adam_peaty) April 20, 2024

WADA released a separate statement aimed at the US anti-doping agency.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is astonished by the outrageous, completely false and defamatory remarks made by the CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, who has made very serious accusations against WADA in connection with the case of 23 swimmers from China that was reported upon by the media earlier today.

Mr. Tygart’s allegations are politically motivated and delivered with the intention of undermining WADA’s work to protect clean sport around the world. WADA notes that the damaging comments have been delivered without any supporting evidence whatsoever.

The truth of this matter is that according to all available scientific evidence and intelligence, thoroughly gathered, assessed and tested by leading anti-doping experts, WADA had no basis to challenge the explanation of environmental contamination...

It should be noted that following Mr. Tygart’s false allegations, WADA has no choice but to refer this matter to its legal counsel for further action.

They are just going to sue everyone who doesn't buy into their story. The Chinese anti-doping agency is also threatening to sue. Anyway, the threat of lawsuits aside, a lot of commenters on the story are still scratching their heads about all of this. Here's the top comment.

How does a team unwittingly ingest a banned substance? Were they dumpster diving outside a cardiology clinic?

Another one:

I'm not a medical professional, or a chemist, but the situation as described defies credulity - how does a heart medicine show up in in trace amounts, in various parts of a KITCHEN?   When it it traditionally dispensed in PILL FORM?   China has a long history of CHEATING when it comes to the Olympics, in 2000 it doctored birth certificates for it's women's gymnastics team - I remember watching the competition, it was patently obvious these were pre pubescent girls, the American teens towered over them, they looked like preschoolers in comparison - lets face it, China, Russia, will stoop to the lowest depths of cheating, acknowledge it once and for all.

I guess we'll see what happens. Some of these same athletes are about to compete in the Paris Olympics.