China anti-doping agency calls for more tests on American athletes, accuses US of ‘systemic’ abuses
Hong Kong Free Press
China’s anti-doping agency on Thursday called for more tests on American athletes, accusing the US of concealing “systemic” abuses, as a war of words intensifies between the two countries leading the Olympics medals table.
Chinese and American authorities have traded barbs since a media investigation in April found 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but were still allowed to compete.
They were not punished because the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the argument of Chinese authorities that the positive results were caused by contaminated food.
The revelations brought widespread criticism of WADA, particularly from the United States, which infuriated China by accusing the global governing body of a cover-up.
The China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) hit back on Thursday, saying in a statement that “there is reason to suspect that there is a systemic doping problem in track and field in the United States”.
It cited the case of American sprinter Erriyon Knighton, who tested positive for a banned substance in March but was cleared to compete in Paris after an independent arbitrator ruled that the result likely came from contaminated meat.
Knighton has qualified for Thursday’s Olympic 200m final in Paris.
CHINADA asked why the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) had seemingly not uncovered more positive tests for the substance — a steroid widely used in livestock — among American athletes or warned them about the risk of contamination.
It called for more tests on American track and field athletes, alleging “deep-rooted stains in… US athletics and USADA’s repeated disregard for procedures and standards”.
CHINADA provided no evidence that American athletes currently at the Games had failed doping tests.
The US top the Olympics medals table with 27 golds, just ahead of China on 25.
China named 11 of the swimmers implicated in the doping scandal in their Paris Olympics team. China’s swimmers finished with 12 medals — two gold, three silver and seven bronze.
CHINADA said in June that it would “never” agree to a US demand to release details of its investigation into the 23 swimmers.
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