Opinion: 23 Chinese Swimmers Tested Positive for Drugs Before Tokyo Olympics, But Swam Anyway. Oops!

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WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, accepted the findings from CHINADA, China’s anti-doping agency that the swimmers in question did have traces of Trimetazidine in their systems seven months before the Tokyo Olympics (2020).

However several Chinese swimmers were still allowed to swim in the Olympics winning several medals for China including three gold. With a few of the same swimmers being scheduled to swim in this summer’s Paris Olympics.

The positive findings were deemed to be caused by substance contamination. On the order of say, a batch of brownies being found to contain some THC in them but upon closer inspection determined that it was caused by cross-contamination between the cocoa powder used and somebody’s stash.

Trimetazidine is a medication used to treat heart-related conditions, like Angina.

According to WebMD – trimetazidine “helps to metabolize fatty acids, which helps your body use oxygen. The drug allows for more blood flow to your heart and limits quick changes in your blood pressure.”

If the drug in question was say, prescribed to deal with insomnia, then one could understand that it was obviously taken in error. Who wants to go to sleep during a race?

But a drug that is designed to help oxygenate the blood, thus allowing for more robust physical activity might come in handy when swimming against the world’s best swimmers.

And it does beg the question, is this a medicine normally found in locker rooms and swimming pool arenas, where young vibrant athletes are engaged in intense physical activities? Whereas angina is usually associated with people ages 45-55 and above.

Did someone’s grandmother accidentally drop their prescription into the pool one day? Or leave it on the same locker room shelf along with the B-Complex tablets?

Maybe some other agency will get involved and think this is a little too strange for coincidence.