Chinese swimmers will have undergone at least eight drug tests by the start of the Paris Olympics , twice as many as athletes from some other countries.
The sport’s governing body, World Aquatics, was under pressure to act after 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance, heart medication trimetazidine, seven months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but were cleared of wrongdoing and went on to claim three gold medals. Eleven of them are competing in Paris this month.
After a review of its decision allowing the swimmers to compete in Tokyo, World Aquatics said the incident “weakened” trust in the anti-doping system.
To rebuild trust, it said, Chinese swimmers competing in Paris will have been tested “no less than eight times” this year by the International Testing Agency, twice the standard level.
It said "a certain number of athletes from specific nations will be tested four times" by the agency which runs anti-doping programmes for many Olympic sports.
Samples of Chinese athletes will ideally not be collected by the Chinese anti-doping agency and not be tested by laboratories in China .
World Aquatics is likely to publish the results of the tests before the Olympics opening ceremony next week.
"What is extremely clear and what cannot be taken for granted is that the trust of the aquatics community is vital to the continued success of World Aquatics as an international federation," the governing body said.
The body is seeking to reassure the world of sport of its fairness after Michael Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history with 28 medals, said the World Anti-Doping Agency, which conducted the 2021 tests, can no longer be trusted.
It was also targeted by a US federal investigation for accepting the explanation for 2021 test results when travel to China was not possible due to the Covid pandemic.
A Chinese investigation in June 2021 blamed the tainted results on mass contamination of food in a hotel kitchen, without providing evidence.
The matter came to public attention three months after the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported on it.
World Aquatics formed a panel to review its actions from three years ago, specifically its adherence to doping guidelines and its decision not to contest the Chinese claim before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The panel published its report on Monday, 12 days before swimming events start in Paris, and pledged to have more anti-doping tests for some countries, especially China.
It recommended that World Aquatics routinely publish details of athletes provisionally suspended for potential breaches of doping rules, how many times they were tested in the six months before a major competition like the Olympics or the World championships and by whom.
"World Aquatics must accept this challenge and intensify its communication with athletes," the panel concluded.
Additional reporting by agencies
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