Olympics-Swimming-Australia champion will weigh doping protest after racing China swimmer

By Ian Ransom

PARIS (Reuters) - Australia's Olympic 200 metres breaststroke champion Zac Stubblety-Cook said he may make an anti-doping protest after racing Chinese world record holder Qin Haiyang at the Paris Games.

The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported in April that Qin was among 23 Chinese swimmers who were allowed to compete in the Tokyo Olympics despite testing positive earlier in the year for heart medication trimetazidine, a drug banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

WADA confirmed the 23 tested positive but has not named any of them. It accepted the findings of a Chinese investigation that the test results were due to contamination from a hotel kitchen where the team were staying.

The International Olympic Committee's Rule 50 gives athletes some freedom to express opinions on political or social issues but protests at medal podiums or on the field of play are banned.

"Everyone probably is aware of rule 50 here and the repercussions that happen with that," Stubblety-Cook told reporters on Thursday.

"I think potentially we could see protests in other events as well.

"Personally I think I will make a decision probably on the day.

"But you know at the end of the day, I'm a clean athlete and I'm trying to abide by those rules and I just hope my competitors do the same."

The men's 200 metre breaststroke heats are on July 30, day four of the Olympic swimming meet at La Defense Arena.

An independent investigation this month ruled WADA did not mishandle or show favouritism to China while a World Aquatics audit concluded there was no mismanagement or cover-up by the governing body.

Qin and the Chinese Swimming Association have not responded to requests for comment on the matter.

Qin, 25, who beat Stubblety-Cook for the 200m breaststroke world title at Fukuoka last year and also took his world record, is a major contender for the Olympic gold medal.

Though WADA has robustly defended its handling of the Chinese case, Stubblety-Cook said he felt the anti-doping system had failed clean athletes.

"I absolutely believe in clean sport and I hope that this is a clean Games," he said.

"It's obviously disappointing to hear that news and hear about the pre-Tokyo 23 athletes testing positive -- some multiple times.

"And for me, racing someone that was one of those athletes and finding out he was one of those athletes was disappointing.

"I think it's less about what country they came from and more about the system and how the system ultimately feels like it's failed. And that's the truth."

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Toby Davis)