Paris Olympics 2024: China suspect Aussie beef as source of steroid in positive test

Chinese state security services suspected that contaminated Australian beef caused two swimmers to test positive to a powerful steroid.

Chinese state security services tested beef imports from Australia suspecting it could be the source of two Chinese swimmers testing positive to a powerful steroid two years ago.

The positive drug results, and a subsequent ban for just 12 months, was kept secret from the swimming community, and the furtive actions of the World Anti Doping Agency have again been brought in question.

The suspicion put upon Australia’s beef is intriguing, given Australia’s fierce condemnation of China’s history with drugs in sport over the decades.

The Chinese claims have perplexed officials across the meat industry in Australia.

Meat and Livestock Australia said in a statement: “Menthandienone is not used in any capacity in Australian beef production or in any veterinary medicine.”

It is unclear if WADA had conducted a wider investigation by asking Australian beef producers about which hormones are given to cattle in the country before accepting the Chinese excuse.

On the eve of the Paris Olympics Zac Stubblety-Cook said the drug testing system had “failed” as athletes had lost confidence in WADA. While Western swimmers are immediately banned and have to prove, through the no fault strict liability rules as to where the drug may have come from to gain any reprieve, the Chinese only have to yell contamination and the issue is swept under the carpet.

In Paris on Tuesday when word about the latest Chinese imbroglio swept through La Defense Arena, swimmers rolled their eyes.

Katie Ledecky said: ”I read the report this morning. I think I’ve made my thoughts pretty clear. It’s disappointing.”

Australian swimmer Tommy Neill after the 4x200m heats said: ”Oh mate, it’s always frustrating hearing about it but, you know, us four was here to do a job this morning in our relay and we’re not thinking about it, we’re just worrying about ourselves.”

Olympic officials asked for the drug agencies WADA and the International Testing Agency to “be able to do their job”. The International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams pleaded on Tuesday “let WADA and the ITA do their job, they do their job very well’’. He revealed, “to reassure you”, that Chinese athletes have been tested 600 times since January this year.

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The latest case involves Tang Muhan, a Tokyo Olympic gold medallist in the relay who will compete in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team on Thursday and He Junyi who is not at the Olympics.

The New York Times reported the two tested positive to trace amounts of the steroid metandienone in 2022. The Chinese couldn’t prove where the drug came from even though the Chinese state security agency became involved and tested the source of the meat from Australia where cattle is often treated with growth hormones to boost weight.

WADA and World Aquatics accepted the Chinese explanation it was probably contamination from a lunch comprising the hamburgers and fries and a soft drink at a nearby restaurant to their training base at the National team facility in Beijing and took no further action.

Intriguingly swimmer He had also been one of the 23 Chinese swimmers to have tested positive to the prescription heart medication, trimetazidine, known as TMZ the year earlier, in the case which has cause uproar throughout the sport.