Outrage over Decision to Allow Chinese Swimmers to Compete Despite Doping Tests
The decision to allow 23 Chinese swimmers to compete at the Tokyo Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance has sparked outrage from the lawyer for Australian swimmer Shayna Jack.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) defended its decision, stating that the swimmers had ingested the drug unknowingly. However, many commentators have expressed shock and dismay over the ruling, alleging double standards in the treatment of different athletes.
Shayna Jack tested positive for a banned substance in 2019, which led to a protracted appeals process. The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport ultimately ruled that Jack had ingested the drug unintentionally and reduced her four-year ban to two, meaning she still missed the Tokyo Olympics.
Her lawyer, Tim Fuller, appeared on the Nine Network on Monday morning and expressed his shock and dismay over the ruling for the Chinese swimmers, which was unknown to the public for three years until a recent report.
“Oh, it’s shocking double standards, you know, you had Shayna fighting to clear her name,” Fuller said. “She was cleared by a court, WADA appealed that decision, so she had to go through an appeal.”
“And meanwhile, you know, behind the scenes, we’ve had 23 athletes from China who have ultimately been found to have done nothing wrong.”
Fuller added that WADA had failed to make the failed doping tests public, which he said was a breach of their own rules.
“That’s the biggest mystery,” he said. “I mean, in their rules, there’s a requirement to make an announcement.”
“All athletes, every single athlete in this, in the world, if they test positive for a banned substance, they’ll be stood down provisionally.”
“So it’s a temporary suspension and then they have to go through the process and we find out about that. We find out about athletes that have been stood down. But on this occasion, with 23 athletes from one of the biggest swimming nations in the world, we hear nothing.”
When asked about the justification for the ruling, Fuller said he found it “highly implausible” that all 23 athletes had consumed contaminated food.
“I mean, what were the concentration levels in their system? There’s a lot of unknowns. There’s more questions than answers,” he said.
Fuller added that he believed the matter was far from closed and that the Americans, who have been strong in their opposition to the decision, may investigate further.
“Well, I think it’s a mystery as to why this wasn’t announced,” he said. “I mean, if they were so confident in the processes that were taking place by the Chinese Anti-Doping Authority, they should have made that announcement prior to Tokyo that these 23 athletes were cleared and able to compete.”
“But look, I don’t think it’s the end of this matter. The Americans have been very strong in their opposition to this decision and they have powerful laws to investigate perceived crimes in relation to sport that involves any American athletes and, of course, the Tokyo Olympics involved American athletes.”
“So they can bring in the FBI. They have strong legislation. I think we’ll hear more about this over time. And for all the athletes who play by the rules and keep sport clean, they want answers too.”
