Doping, double standards and how TUEs muddy the waters of China row with the US (2024)

Not one swimmer competing at the Paris Olympics has failed a recent drugs test, that we know of, and yet the stench of doping accusations and allegations clung to La Defense Arena throughout nine days of intense competition.

This was a Games where the word trimetazidine, or TMZ, was on the lips of those around the pool, as much as the names of its superstar performers: Leon Marchand, Kaylee McKeown and Pan Zhanle.

What’s more, because of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) approach, this is an issue that promises to run and run.

Wada are under fire from the United States Anti-Doping Agency [Usada] for their handling of failed drugs tests before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

And the matter has developed into a diplomatic row, with China and the US locking horns on a seemingly daily basis.

How did we get here?

In April, reports surfaced that 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for TMZ, a medication that increases blood flow to the heart, thereby improving endurance, before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 had been cleared to compete, with neither Wada, nor Chinese authorities revealing it had happened.

The China Anti-Doping Agency [Chinada] said all 23 had eaten food that was contaminated in the kitchen of a hotel where they were staying for a domestic competition. TMZ is prescribed as a solid pill, not as a liquid or powder.

Wada accepted Chinada’s findings but never released the test results, which were only made public this year following a joint investigation involving The New York Times newspaper and ARD, the German television station.

Of those 23, 11 have competed in Paris. The Australian, Kaylee McKeown, who won 100 metres and 200m backstroke gold, told the Post: “I was devastated with what came out about the doping pre-Olympics.

“I think it’s just sad to think … it kind of got slipped away and swept under the rug.

“If it was any other nation, I think it would have been broadcast. If you look at Shayna Jack and Peter Bol [Australian swimmer and runner who served doping suspensions], they just got plastered and blasted about it.

“Australia has such a high standard, and I think that’s the standard we expect the rest of the world to be at, too.”

Pan, who smashed his own world record to win 100m freestyle gold, has inadvertently found himself embroiled in the controversy. He has never recorded a positive doping test, but that didn’t stop an Australian swimming coach, Brett Hawke, from angrily claiming Pan’s swim was “not humanly possible … not real life”. The inference was clear.

Tom Rushton, who coaches Hong Kong’s quadruple Olympic medallist Siobhan Haughey, had a contrasting take. He told the Post the insinuations around Pan’s performance were “poor and disappointing”.

“It shows some people are not worldly and don’t know anything about China and its people,” Rushton said. “A lot of these online commenters are American.”

A diplomatic row

The row has pitched the USA and China into direct conflict. Usada chief Travis Tygart accused Wada and Chinada of “sweeping positives under the carpet”, and called the affair a “potential cover up”.

Wada called Tygart’s remarks “outrageous, completely false and defamatory”.

In June, Michael Phelps told a US congressional panel responsible for oversight and investigations that “any attempts for reform at Wada have fallen short.”

Last week, United States lawmakers established the Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act. This will empower the US Office of National Drug Control Policy to revoke the government’s annual payment to Wada. The largest financial contributors, they are yet to pay the US$3.62 million due this year.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), meanwhile, which oversees Wada, has hinted it could withdraw the US’ hosting rights for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, or, more realistically, the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

This week, Phelps said it would be unfair to “point the finger” at Pan. The 39-year-old, who won 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold, in a glittering swimming career, said he was an advocate for a ‘one-and-done’ rule, which would see life bans for any athlete who returned a positive sample. Phelps said he believed he “never competed in a clean field” over a 16-year career.

“It breaks my heart to see people put hard effort into four years to prepare for an Olympic Games, then to have it taken away from them by somebody who is cheating,” Phelps said.

A legal loophole?

Phelps was not as unequivocal over therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs), which permit athletes to take prohibited medication for medical purposes.

“I had a nose inhaler for a little bit and I had to have a TUE,” he told the Post. “They’re there for a reason, [they are a] temporary use exemption. You just have to follow the right guidelines. That’s it. If somebody forgets to do that, it’s on the athlete.

“As athletes, we all know the rules and the ins-and-outs of drug testing and doping.”

Allowing an athlete to medicate from the banned list raises the thorny issue of whether their performance is entirely reflective of ability, if it relies on artificial assistance. A number of asthma control drugs, such as Albuterol, Formoterol and Terbutaline have been found to increase the strength and stamina of athletes.

Simone Biles, the American gymnast who won three gold medals in France, is permitted to take drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Medication for ADHD typically increases focus and induces hyperactivity in people without the condition. For those with ADHD, treatments are said to reduce hyperactivity and distractibility.

Wada had outlined four criteria for obtaining a TUE, among which are the need to have a “clear diagnosed medical condition” and that medication will not “on the balance of probabilities, produce significant enhancement of performance”.

The attitude of some athletes and confederations to TUEs was illustrated by the former Great Britain cycling coach, Shane Sutton, who said: “If you’ve got an athlete who’s 95 per cent ready and that little 5 per cent niggle or injury that’s troubling them, if you can get the TUE to get them to 100 per cent, of course you would in … days.”

British rider Bradley Wiggins used the powerful corticosteroid, triamcinolone, in 2012, the same year he won Olympic gold and the Tour de France.

Wiggins was among a number of prominent athletes, including Biles, Serena Williams and Mo Farah, the British four-times Olympic distance running champion, whose use of TUEs was revealed by the Russian hacking group, Fancy Bears.

Athletes are not required to place their reliance on TUEs in the public domain. After winning 100m sprint gold this week, Noah Lyles posted on social media about managing ADHD and Asthma. There is no record of American Lyles having any TUE.

McKeown shared the same stance as Phelps. “I was on the verge of needing a TUE for my asthma, so I completely understand people who need them for their medication,” she said. “I have full faith the doctors in Australia know what they’re doing and what’s right and what’s wrong.

“I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but I’m proud to be an Aussie and I’m proud to be a clean athlete.”

Double standards at work

Rushton, who helped Haughey claim two bronze medals in Paris, noted the double standards around prevailing reactions to impressive performances.

While Pan’s feat was greeted with broad scepticism, no such aspersions were cast over Bobby Finke, from the US, who lowered a 12-year-old record in the men’s 1,500m freestyle final.

In Haughey’s 100m freestyle final, America’s Torri Huske smashed her personal best for silver. “Everybody said, ‘great, she works hard, she deserves it’,” Rushton observed.

This issue is not going away any time soon. Last week, The New York Times reported another two Chinese swimmers had positive tests from 2022 covered up. One of those was said to have been in the team that won bronze in the women’s 4x100m freestyle last week.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, Chinada accused the US of “turning a blind eye to its long history of doping problems”.

Chinada said the US Congress, Usada and American media had adopted a selective approach and “confused right and wrong through fabrication and frame-up”.

To underscore its case, Chinada cited the case of Erriyon Knighton, the US sprinter who was cleared to race in Paris after a positive test for the anabolic steroid Trenbolone was attributed to the 20-year-old eating contaminated meat.

“Usada has shown a typical double standard by trying its best to clear American athletes on one hand, but on the other hand accusing Chinada and [Wada] of covering up the truth,” Chinada said in a statement.

“It seems the accusation and attack on China and other countries is [Usada’s] tactic to deflect attention from the serious flaws in its own anti-doping work. This is sheer political manipulation and hypocritical double standards.”

A lack of understanding

Phelps insisted the only way to move forwards was for “[all country’s anti-doping bodies] to come together and figure out one way to test everybody all over the world”.

However, there appears very little prospect of China and the USA finding common ground.

Rushton added: “I was born in the UK and grew up in Canada, so I am a Westerner, but working with Siobhan ... I have got to know the Chinese [swimmers and coaches] well. I am pleased for Pan and his coach.

“[Huske] dropped her PB by nearly twice as much as Pan, and everybody praised her. When Adam Peaty was winning the 100m breaststroke [at previous Olympics] by more than Pan [won 100m freestyle] people said it was because he worked so hard. The comments [doubting Chinese athletes] show a lack of understanding.”