Increased Anti-Doping for Chinese Swimmers at Paris Olympics

World Aquatics has announced that Chinese swimmers will undergo twice as many anti-doping tests as their counterparts in the lead-up to the Paris Olympic Games, being tested at least eight times by the International Testing Agency (ITA). This heightened scrutiny follows the 2021 scandal where 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ), which was attributed to tainted food by Chinese authorities and accepted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Despite this, 11 of these athletes will compete in Paris. The increased testing aims to restore trust in the anti-doping system and will involve efforts to ensure samples are analyzed outside of China. The ITA will oversee these tests to ensure impartiality, amidst ongoing criticisms of WADA's handling of the 2021 incident.