Drug test figures show WADA’s desperate steps to restore faith in integrity

Doping officials undertook an unprecedented drug testing regime in the lead up to the Paris Olympics with some athletes tested dozens of times. Where do the Aussies rank? See the list.

Australian Olympic champions were among the least drug-tested individual gold medallists in World Aquatics in 2024 as new figures reveal just how heavily the Chinese swim team was target tested ahead of the Paris Games.

With World Aquatics desperate to restore faith in their Integrity protocols after this masthead exclusively revealed a cover-up of 23 positive tests involving the Chinese swim team ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, doping officials undertook an unprecedented regime specifically aimed at Chinese swimmers ahead of Paris.

New figures released by World Aquatics - which compiled their own tests alongside those done by other agencies including in and out of competition testing - showed that the 32 most tested athletes in world swimming last year were all Chinese.

In contrast, only one Australian swimmer features in the top 100 most tested athletes - that being open water silver medallist and 1500m swimmer Moesha Johnson.

Of the individual Olympic swimming gold medallists in Paris, Chinese sprint star Pan Zhanle was the most tested athlete with 31 drug tests in 2024.

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China's Pan Zhanle was the most-tested gold medallist at the Games. Picture: AFP

Zhanle delivered the most stunning Olympic performance of the Paris Games, obliterating the 100m freestyle world record in a jaw-dropping 46.40 seconds swim that renowned sprint coach Brett Hawke labelled “not humanly possible”.

In Paris Zhanle declared he was a clean athlete who had been tested “29 times” while Chalmers, who data shows was only tested five times in 2024, said at the time he had faith his rival was clean.

“I do everything I possibly can to win the race, and I trust that everyone’s doing the same as I am and staying true to the integrity of sport,” Chalmers said last year.

“I trust it, I trust that he’s done everything he possibly can to be there and he deserves that gold medal.”

Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan and Cameron McEvoy were the least tested individual Olympic gold medal winners from 2024 with just six tests - equal lowest with South African breaststroker Tatjana Smith.

Mollie O'Callaghan ahead of the Womens 100m Freestyle Final during the 2025 Australian Open Swimming Championships. Picture: Getty Images

The most tested Olympic gold medallist on the Dolphins team was backstroker Kaylee McKeown with nine tests, followed by Ariarne Titmus with eight tests.

But even those tallies are about half as much testing as that faced by leading US and European swimmers, with McKeown’s main backstroke nemesis Regan Smith the most tested non-Chinese swimmer in the world with 22 tests.

Multiple Olympic gold medallists Leon Marchand, Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh all registered 16 drug tests in 2024.

Paris Olympic 100m breaststroke silver medallist Tang Qianting was the most tested athlete in 2024 with 38 drug tests, including 17 by World Aquatics and 21 by other agencies.

Next highest was breaststroke world record holder Qin Haiyang, one of the 23 athletes caught up in the pre-Tokyo doping scandal, who was tested 35 times.

Zhanle was the 11th most tested swimmer while banned Chinese middle distance star Sun Yang was tested 14 times.

The transparency around the volume of testing is a clear sign World Aquatics is attempting to regain control of the narrative they are indeed tough on doping and especially the Chinese after widespread backlash from the positive tests that were not disclosed to the public until revealed by this masthead.

WA announced the International Testing Agency (ITA), who controls their testing regime, had collected a further 1413 samples from 680 athletes in 63 countries in the first quarter of 2025.

“These figures reflect a coordinated international effort to promote clean sport and uphold fair play,” WA said in a statement on their website.

“The continued increase in both volume and geographic reach of testing underlines World Aquatics’ commitment to safeguarding the integrity of aquatic sports. It also reinforces a strong dedication to transparency in the fight against doping.”