How did the heart medication get into the spice rack? How did the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) get into air vents and drains and other parts of the kitchen at the Huayang Holiday Hotel in Shijiazhuang then presumably into the food and therefore the bodies of 23 Chinese swimmers before their Olympic trials in 2021? Until we know the answer to these questions – and we probably never will – how can anyone have confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s ability to keep sport clean? Don’t worry about the occasional Bondi cigar floating down the Seine alongside the marathon swimmers and triathletes at the Paris Games: of greater alarm should be how dirty the competition will be. In 2021, China’s anti-doping agency, CHINADA, attributed the failed drug tests to contamination from the hotel’s kitchen, which WADA oh-so-quietly accepted until a joint investigation from The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD brought the story to light in April this year. If that wasn’t bad enough, WADA also accepted Chinese authorities failing to place a provisional ban on the athletes nor conducting a hearing into the matter.
Drugs, not poo, will be the big issue in Paris. Credit: Simon Letch Australia was outraged. The US was outraged.
The world was outraged. WADA told us there was nothing to see here and threatened to sue everyone. On Wednesday, an independent report cleared the agency of mishandling or showing bias in the case of the Chinese swimmers, who were allowed t.