The Olympics just got super juicy with this cray-cray doping scandal in the swimming world. It’s total chaos and everyone’s talking about it. 11 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for this banned heart medication called trimetazidine (TMZ) in 2021 are still going to compete in Paris 2024. Can you even?
Back in 2021, just before the Tokyo Olympics, these swimmers tested positive for TMZ, which is used to treat heart conditions but is totally banned for athletes because it’s a performance enhancer. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Chinese authorities claimed it was due to accidental contamination from food. I mean, who’d have thought, right? But they were allowed to compete anyway! And now, they’re back on the team for Paris.
Travis Tygart from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency called it “crushing” and suggested that there might have been some shady cover-up going on. Katie Ledecky, the American swimming superstar, said that faith in the anti-doping system is, like, at an all-time low. She added, “It’s hard going into Paris knowing that we’re going to be racing some of these athletes.”
Michael Phelps, the legendary swimmer, weighed in too, saying, “The integrity of our sport is at stake. If athletes are allowed to compete after such allegations, it undermines everything we work so hard for. The Olympic Games should be about fair competition.”
British swimmer James Guy, who won two gold medals in Tokyo, was even more direct, tweeting, “Ban them all and never compete again.”
The whole thing is totally throwing shade on the upcoming swimming events. Some officials, like the head of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said it challenges the fairness of the competition. Meanwhile, WADA is defending itself, saying they couldn’t properly investigate because of the COVID lockdowns in China at the time.
It’s all just so intense. We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out in Paris!
XOXO
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