Australian swimmers dragged into war of words over Chinese swimming doping saga, Trump’s allies wade in
Many Australian swimmers have been dragged into a row between swimming’s global doping watchdog and US regulators regarding the seemingly never ending saga involving drug tests for 23 Chinese swimmers.
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The two dozen top Australian swimmers who missed out on Olympic and world championship medals have been dragged into the escalating war of words between the sport’s global doping watchdog and US regulators, who are still demanding answers about how 23 Chinese competitors secretly escaped punishment after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug.
With the backing of US President Donald Trump’s Republican allies, Congress has convened a subcommittee hearing into the way the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) secretly handled the matter.
American anti-drugs crusaders have long accused WADA of sweeping the case under the carpet because they didn’t want to upset the Chinese but the global watchdog has always strongly refuted any suggestion it went easy on the Asian superpower, saying the 23 swimmers who tested positive to trimetazidine were all victims of an accidental contamination that did not constitute cheating that warranted a ban.
Now, the US federal government has waded in, withholding its annual funding contribution to WADA and preparing to grill WADA, even with Los Angeles locked in to host the next Summer Olympics in 2028.
“The World Anti-Doping Agency has allowed Communist China and Russia to lie, cheat, and steal, putting American athletes at risk,” the hearing subcommittee chair Marsha Blackburn said in a fiery statement.
“As one of the largest financial contributors to WADA, the United States deserves answers.
“My colleagues and I refuse to be silenced in our mission to make certain WADA does not turn a blind eye to corruption.”
WADA has shown no indications of backing down, accusing the Americans of hypocrisy and politicising the case for its own purposes.
The agency declined a request to testify at next week’s hearing while its Polish president Witold Banka has told US politicians they should be focusing on trying to stop the drug-friendly Enhanced Games from taking place in Las Vegas next year.
“Every effort should be made by the authorities in the US to prevent this dangerous event from going ahead as planned,” Banka told reporters in Switzerland this week.
“This should be explored from the legal perspective. For example, I would question whether it is legal for licensed doctors to give these potent drugs to healthy athletes.
“It goes completely against the rules and values of their profession … I think there is a strong role to be played by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).”
USADA chief executive Travis Tygart, one of the most vocal critics of WADA’s role in the Chinese case, immediately returned fire.
The American lawyer is listed as one of the witnesses at next week’s hearing and said WADA should co-operate with the hearing if it was serious about wanting to block the Enhanced Games and protect clean athletes.
“If Banka wants to make requests to U.S. authorities, then he should come and engage with the US and the U.S. Congress,” Tygart told this masthead.
“We have both asked repeatedly, including through an invitation to Tuesday’s Senate hearing, all of which he has refused. Instead of making uninformed demands from his ivory tower about other matters, he could come to the U.S., ask directly, and show the world that he has nothing to hide.”
Some well-known Australian swimmers are involved in the Enhanced Games, which permits and actively encourages drug use.
Double world champion James Magnussen has admitted “juicing” himself up in order to take part while two-time Olympian Brett Hawke has signed on as coach. Both men are facing the prospect of a blanket life ban from swimming.
USADA has been outspoken in its opposition to the ‘Steroid Games’ but Tygart has also warned that it shouldn’t be allowed to distract from the upcoming hearing into WADA’s handling of the Chinese case because it has had a direct impact on almost 100 international swim stars.
As previously revealed by this masthead, 25 Australian swimmers – including superstars Emma McKeon, Kyle Chalmers, Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown, Mollie O’Callaghan and Zac Stubblety-Cook – could have been entitled to upgraded medals and prize money and performance bonuses approaching $250,000 if the Chinese swimmers had been banned in the cycle between the 2021 Tokyo Olympics to the 2024 Paris Games.
“Despite his (Witold) obvious diversion tactics with the Enhanced Games, which of course are a bad idea for all the obvious reasons, he has yet to address the real issue directly impacting our current athletes,” Tygart said.
“Which is why he allowed China to sweep 23 positive tests of elite Chinese swimmers under the carpet, and in doing so, potentially impacted 96 medals at the 2021 and 2024 Olympics.”
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