“It’s crushing news to wake up to for all athletes and fans of the Olympic movement that the failures of the global anti-doping system have overshadowed what should be a moment to bring the world together. China seemingly has the playbook to compete under a different set of rules tilting the field in their favor. The failed leadership of the anti-doping system has allowed one country special treatment at the very time we should all be united behind the Olympic values of fair play and respect for all fellow competitors.
Not only will the upcoming swimming relay event be tarnished given that China swept this positive test for a hard-core steroid under the rug, but with it coming on the heels of WADA also allowing China to bury 23 positive tests of swimmers, clean athletes’ hopes and dreams have been stolen by these failures. A mountain of evidence shows that the system has failed, WADA has accepted China can play by its own set of rules, and the public is losing faith in the Olympic values. It must change. The system has also tragically failed the 23 Chinese athletes, who—contrary to the rules—were reportedly never even informed about their positive TMZ tests, and whose violations were never publicly announced. Now other athletes’ rights have been abused by the powers that again failed to uniformly apply the rules by requiring a public announcement of a violation.”
For more information or media inquiries, click here.