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☆ Investigator backs global anti-doping officials’ handling of Chinese swimmers case
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

An investigator has backed the World Anti-Doping Agency’s handling of a case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who failed drug tests weeks before the Tokyo Games and said WADA had not been complacent nor shown bias toward China. Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, who was handpicked by the global anti-doping agency, said in a preliminary report in July that WADA did not mishandle the case involving the swimmers, who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) but were cleared by a Chinese investigation. Cottier reiterated those findings in his final report on Thursday but also criticized WADA for failing to challenge Chinese anti-doping authorities (CHINADA) for not following all of the procedures laid down in its anti-doping standard. The case prompted a backlash from athletes and national anti-doping authorities, who questioned WADA’s processes and complained about a lack of transparency in the case. “The ongoing failure to investigate and to answer the critical question of whether the 23 positive tests were due to contamination or intentional use will haunt athletes around the world for years to come.”

Persons: WADA, Eric Cottier, Cottier, ” Cottier, ” CHINADA, Olivier Niggli, ” Travis Tygart, ” Organizations: Tokyo Games, TMZ, U.S, Doping Authority Locations: China, Swiss

The team has been under a cloud of suspicion since The New York Times reported in April that 23 swimmers tested positive for a banned heart drug before the 2021 Tokyo Games. The issue has also prompted a diplomatic spat between the U.S. on one side and China, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on the other. "Chinese swimmers are clean and have never feared testing," the spokesperson said. Adam Pretty / Getty ImagesThe impact of testing aside, Chinese swimmers are also worried the situation could affect their once-friendly exchanges with foreign competitors. "No matter how much World Aquatics tried to mess with the Chinese athletes’ mindset before, they still broke the world record!"

Persons: Zhanle, Pan Zhanle, Jonathan Nackstrand, Catherine Ordway, Pan, Adam Pretty, China’s, Ordway, WADA, Witold Banka, Sen, Marsha Blackburn, Erriyon Knighton, commenter, Pan’s, I’m Organizations: Olympics, Paris Olympics, Getty, New York Times, Doping Agency, Paris Games, U.S, International Olympic Committee, NBC News, Aquatics, NBC, International Testing Agency, University of Canberra, FBI, Justice Department, White House, Times, The, ’ Commission, Olympic, Games Locations: HONG KONG, China, AFP, Paris, France, Russia, Sochi, U.S, Australian, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, Weibo

☆ China doping controversy casts a shadow over Olympic swimming
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | Andrew Mcnicol | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The global sports doping watchdog World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the assessment without an appeal. Concern only deepened Tuesday, after WADA acknowledged a separate 2022 case in which two Chinese swimmers tested positive for “trace amounts of a prohibited substance metandienone,” a banned anabolic steroid. “I feel so wronged,” said Zhang, denying that Chinese swimmers engaged in doping. The 2022 case, reported by the Times earlier this week, involves a swimmer on the Chinese roster in Paris, according to the paper. Personally, I believe that seven doping tests in one day might have disrupted our Chinese swimming team,” Gao wrote on Weibo.

Persons: Zhang Yufei, Zhang, ”, WADA, CHINADA –, Travis Tygart, “, it’s, CHINADA, Pan, Jonathan Nackstrand, China’s Pan Zhanle, Gao Min, Qin Haiyang’s, ” Gao, Yu Liang, they’ve Organizations: Hong Kong CNN —, Paris Olympics, Tokyo, China’s, Doping Agency, Tokyo Games, New York Times, ARD, Times, CNN, Getty, Aquatics, Paris Olympic, ’, China national, commentors Locations: Hong Kong, China, United States, Australia, Beijing, Paris, AFP, Tokyo, Weibo, France

☆ Five things to watch from the swimming competition at this year’s Olympic Games
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-28 | by ( Kyle Feldscher | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Paris CNN —The first week of the Olympics and with it comes one of the Games’ signature events: Swimming. Here are five things to watch from this year’s swimming competition in Paris. The back-and-forth will take on new life as Aussie and American swimmers take to the pool and compete to take home the most medals. Bronte Campbell, swimming on the Australian’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay team, told reporters: “I really respect our American competitors. “So that was a really, really special event tonight.”

Persons: Paris CNN —, Katie Ledecky, Jean Catuffe, Ledecky, She’ll, She’s, hasn’t, she’s, Titmus, Ledecky’s, Summer McIntosh, Rob Koehler, ”, “, ” CHINADA, Witold Bańka, Caeleb Dressel, ” Dressel, Cate Campbell –, Michael Phelps, Phelps, Campbell, “ It’s, ” Campbell, I’ve, Ian Thorpe of, Chad le Clos, …, ” Phelps, USA’s, Phelps ’, Bronte Campbell, ” Leon Marchand, Leon Marchand, Sarah Stier, Marchand, It’s, Dressel, he’s Organizations: Paris CNN, Team USA, Olympic Games, Paris La Defense, La Défense, New York Times, Tokyo Olympics, Global, CNN, Tokyo, Doping Agency, CHINADA, NBC, USA, Team France, Olympic Locations: Paris, Nanterre, France, Tokyo, La, American, USA, Australian, Ian Thorpe of Australia, South Africa

☆ Warning signs blinking over swimmers’ anger at alleged Chinese doping scandal ahead of Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Don Riddell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Eleven of those Chinese swimmers are due to compete again in Paris, and many of their rivals are preparing to go against them with a sense of bitter resignation. Rob Koehler, director of international sports advocacy group Global Athlete, told CNN that they are already anticipating the worst. In a statement, WADA stood by its previous decision-making and said an independent prosecutor had confirmed that its conclusions were reasonable. He said athletes feel as though World Aquatics and the World Anti-Doping Agency have failed them and that nobody outside of the sport is paying attention. While none of those swimmers want to publicly comment on the situation ahead of the Games, Koehler believes that they will publicly protest if any one of the 11 Chinese athletes win a medal.

Persons: Rob Koehler, ”, “, ” CHINADA, Witold Bańka, WADA, “ WADA, Travis Tygart, Michal Phelps, Allison Schmitt, Koehler, Australia’s Mack Horton, Sun Yang, “ CHINADA, ” Koehler Organizations: CNN, Olympic, New York Times, Tokyo Olympics, Global, Tokyo, Doping Agency, CHINADA, ” CNN, Agency, US Justice Department, Games, Aquatics, International Olympic, Service Locations: Paris, United States, American, China

☆ Michael Phelps rips World Anti-Doping Agency for inconsistent enforcement of rules: ‘We need to hold them accountable’
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Kyle Feldscher | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Washington CNN —Legendary Olympian Michael Phelps on Tuesday ripped the World Anti-Doping Agency and described an inconsistent application of anti-doping rules that is driving frustration among clean athletes and concerns over the future of fair competition. US Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart also testified. Why were Chinese athletes treated differently than athletes from other countries? Three years later, news surfaced that some Chinese athletes on that team were not subjected to the same anti-doping rules, casting doubt on the fairness of the competition. Former Olympians Michael Phelps, left, and Allison Schmitt, right, and US Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart testify on Capitol Hill on June 25, 2024.

Persons: Michael Phelps, Phelps, Allison Schmitt, ” Phelps, WADA, ”, “, Schmitt, ” WADA, Travis Tygart, Tygart, CHINADA, Trimetazidine, Witold Bańka, …, Bańka, “ WADA, ” Bańka, Morgan Griffith, Virginia –, Griffith, they’re, Kathy Castor of, ” Tygart, WADA Schmitt, Jim Watson, CNN’s Amy Woodyatt, George Ramsay, Haley Talbot Organizations: Washington CNN, Doping Agency, House Energy, The New York Times, ARD, Department of Justice, International Olympic Committee, Tokyo Games, CHINADA, Olympic Games, ”, WADA Lawmakers, Republican, Democrat, People’s, Getty, month’s Locations: Russia, China, trimetazidine, U.S, Paris, Kathy Castor of Florida, People’s Republic of China, AFP

Two months before the Olympics are scheduled to begin in Paris, the global agency tasked with policing doping in sports is facing a growing crisis as it fends off allegations it helped cover up the positive tests of elite Chinese swimmers who went on to compete — and win medals — at the last Summer Games. The allegations are particularly vexing for the World Anti-Doping Agency, which has long billed itself as the gold standard in the worldwide movement for clean sports, because they raise the specter that the agency — and by extension the entire system set up to try to keep the Olympics clean — cannot be trusted. Athletes are openly questioning whether WADA can be relied upon to do its core job of ensuring there will be a level playing field in Paris, where some of the same Chinese swimmers are favorites to win more medals. And in recent days, pressure on WADA has increased significantly, particularly from the United States, which is one of the agency’s chief funders, and as new questions have emerged about WADA’s appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate the allegations, and whether WADA has provided an accurate account to the public about the appointment, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.

Persons: —, specter, WADA Organizations: Doping Agency, The New York Times Locations: Paris, United States

☆ WADA to launch independent review into its handling of doping case involving Chinese swimming
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has commissioned an independent review into its handling of a doping case involving 23 Chinese swimmers after the organization said that it had been the subject of “damaging and baseless allegations.”The development comes after WADA was criticized by members of the anti-doping community, sparking a dispute which looks set to overshadow events in the pool at this year’s Olympics in Paris. “We have no evidence of any sort of skullduggery or planting of trimetazidine,” Wenzel told reporters on Monday. “In the past few days, WADA has been unfairly accused of bias in favor of China by not appealing the CHINADA [China Anti-Doping Agency] case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” added Bańka. Trimetazidine has the potential to boost endurance and has been banned by WADA since 2014. WADA said that Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, attorney general of Vaud in Switzerland for 17 years until his retirement in 2022, will lead the review into the handling of the case.

Persons: WADA, –, ”, Witold Bańka, “, Ross Wenzel, trimetazidine, ” Wenzel, Bańka, ” Bańka, Trimetazidine, CHINADA, Eric Cottier, USADA, WADA’s, ” WADA, Cottier Organizations: CNN, Doping Agency, New York Times, ARD, Tokyo Olympics, Sport, Xinhua Locations: Paris, China, trimetazidine, Swiss, Vaud, Switzerland

☆ WADA Appoints Special Prosecutor in Chinese Doping Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Michael S. Schmidt | Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The World Anti-Doping Agency on Thursday appointed a special prosecutor to review how 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned drug were allowed to avoid public scrutiny and compete at the 2021 Olympics, where they won gold medals and set records. The decision to appoint the special prosecutor, Eric Cottier of Switzerland, came amid an outcry from top government officials, antidoping experts and authorities, and athletes over the way Chinese antidoping officials and the global regulator, known as WADA, handled the positives. “WADA’s integrity and reputation is under attack,” the WADA president, Witold Banka, said in a statement. “In the past few days, WADA has been unfairly accused of bias in favor of China by not appealing the Chinada case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We continue to reject the false accusations and we are pleased to be able to put these questions into the hands of an experienced, respected and independent prosecutor.”

Persons: Eric Cottier of, WADA, Witold Banka, “, ” Organizations: Doping Agency, New York Times, Sport Locations: Eric Cottier of Switzerland, China

☆ A doping free-for-all Enhanced Games calls itself the answer to doping in sports. Opponents say it poses a danger to health
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Molly Stazicker | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +23 min

The Enhanced Games is the brainchild of businessman Aron D’Souza. Aron D'Souza is the founder of the Enhanced Games. But that isn’t the only potential legal jeopardy the Enhanced Games faces, according to American lawyer Jim Walden, who represents Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov. “If you look at the Enhanced Games website, it’s almost as though they’re advertising their disregard of the law,” Walden told CNN Sport. If it goes ahead as planned in December 2024, D’Souza insists that the Enhanced Games will unlock the potential of humanity.

Persons: Dr, Grigory Rodchenkov, –, Rodchenkov, Oscar, Aron D’Souza, ”, D’Souza, “, Raphael Faiss, Faiss, WADA, they’re, Aron D'Souza, ” WADA, Travis Tygart, Jim Walden, ” Walden, Alex Wong, ” Rodchenkov, USADA’s Tygart, ” D’Souza, he’d, “ They’re, Ben Johnson, Johnson, Mike Powell, Pierre de Coubertin –, Ben Johnson –, Eugene, Simona Halep, – Faiss, CNN Roxadustat, Michele Verroken, ” Verroken, Verroken, Hamish Coffey, ’, Brett Fraser, ” Fraser, “ I’ve, I’ll, Jess Ennis, Hill, CNN D’Souza, Trevor Painter, ” Painter, John William Devine, ” Devine, don’t, Martial Saugy Organizations: CNN, Olympics, ”, Testing Agency, ITA, International Olympic Committee, Olympic Games, IOC, CNN Sport, Netflix, Doping Agency, Research, University of Lausanne, United, United States Anti, US Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Sports, Gaming Initiative, “, Games, Seoul, London Games, Bettmann, Athletics Integrity Unit, National Institutes of Health, Sporting Integrity, Australian Olympic, Olympic, United States Patent, Sciences, Swansea University Locations: Paris, United States, Seoul, South Korea, Eugene , Oregon, Cayman Islands, Tokyo, Wales

☆ WADA's 'Operation LIMS' passes 200 sanctions of Russian athletes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 18 (Reuters) - More than 200 Russian athletes have been sanctioned following the ‘Operation LIMS’ investigation into Moscow's anti-doping laboratory with more bans to come, the World Anti-Doping Agency said on Thursday. The suspensions are the result of data and samples retrieved by WADA's Intelligence and Investigations team into the Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). A total of 203 Russian athletes have been sanctioned by 17 anti-doping organisations with an additional 73 charged. "The continued success of WADA’s ‘Operation LIMS’ investigation is a testament to the significant work being conducted by the Agency’s Intelligence and Investigations, and Legal Affairs departments," WADA president Witold Banka said in a statement. WADA’s Executive Committee voted in 2018 to reinstate RUSADA subject to a number of conditions that included access to all data from the LIMS.

CNN —The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has referred the case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after deeming the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has made no progress on the skater’s Winter Olympics doping case. In a statement on Tuesday, WADA President Witold Bańka said: “Despite putting RUSADA under formal notice to resolve the Kamila Valieva case promptly, no progress was made. She had tested positive for a banned substance – the heart medication trimetazidine, which can enhance endurance – in December 2021. In October, RUSADA said in a statement that it had completed its investigation but was keeping the final resolution of a case involving a figure skater, who is a member of the Russian Olympic Committee and a “protected person,” confidential. Team USA finished second in the team event, Japan third and Canada in fourth.

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