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The top spot went to 200m breaststroke world record holder Tan Haiyang, who underwent 46 tests in total. Short-distance freestyle and butterfly expert Zhang Yufei came in second with 43 tests.
In fact, the data shows that the vast majority of the top 26 swimmers who underwent the most tests last year were Chinese. Hong Kong Olympic medalist Siobhan Haughey was the only non-mainland Chinese swimmer, who was tested 17 times in total, ranking 24th.
He is followed by American swimmer Robert Finke in 27th place, who has participated in 16 tests in 2023.
The South China Morning Post reported on July 16, citing the World Swimming Association, that on the eve of the Paris Olympics, Chinese swimmers underwent drug tests twice as often as their rivals.
According to the South China Morning Post, FINA officials said swimmers from “certain countries” are expected to be tested four times between January 1 and the opening of the Paris Olympics on July 26, while Chinese swimmers will be tested “no less than eight times.”
Mr Yu’s comments caused a stir online in China, with netizens leaving angry comments under Phoenix TV’s Weibo post.
“Why don’t they complain? Don’t athletes deserve a break?” read one comment, which received 2,400 likes.
Another popular comment read: “(Try) to complain and see what happens to Sun Yang,” referring to Chinese swimmer and three-time Olympic champion Sun Yang.
In 2020, Sun Yang was banned for eight years by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for smashing a blood vial during a doping test in 2018. The ban was later reduced to four years.
The topic “Chinese swimming team underwent nearly 200 doping tests in 10 days” also became a hot topic on Weibo, with some Chinese netizens accusing Chinese sports officials of failing to protect athletes.
Swimming controversy
The latest developments come in the wake of a doping scandal involving the Chinese swimming team earlier this year.
In April this year, the sports world was shocked by the news that 23 Chinese swimmers had taken banned drugs before the last Olympics in 2021 but were still allowed to compete.
During a domestic competition in late 2020 and early 2021, the two athletes tested positive for the prescription heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ), which can enhance athletic performance.
In June 2021, WADA was notified that China Anti-Doping Agency had accepted that the swimmer had tested positive for TMZ after being “inadvertently exposed to the substance through contamination.”
The anti-doping authority ultimately concluded that it was “unable to prove that the source of TMZ was not due to contamination.”
Last week, the World Swimming Federation launched an audit of the case, which found no mismanagement or cover-up by WADA.
According to Reuters, Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, who conducted an independent investigation into the World Anti-Doping Agency’s handling of the case, also determined that the World Anti-Doping Agency’s handling of the case fully complied with all regulations and there was no favoritism.
“The report concludes that there was no irregularity, mismanagement or cover-up by FINA (then-named World Swimming Federation) in its review of the TMZ case and in its decision not to appeal the China Anti-Doping Agency’s decision,” the FINA review said.
“The processes and procedures followed by FINA in 2021 were consistent with FINA’s then-current operating procedures, the generally accepted operating procedures of other International Federations and its obligations under the World Anti-Doping Code.”
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