Olympics-China anti-doping agency accuses New York Times of sabotage over latest report

By Amy Tennery

PARIS (Reuters) -China's anti-doping agency (CHINADA) has accused the New York Times of politicising doping issues and said the publication was trying to "affect the psychology" of Chinese athletes at the Paris Olympics.

CHINADA said it strictly follows anti-doping guidelines and condemned the Times as "unfair and immoral" a day after the newspaper reported that two of the country's swimmers in 2022 tested positive for a banned steroid but had their provisional suspensions lifted.

The suspensions were lifted after the positive tests were blamed on contaminated food and the Times said one of the two swimmers was competing at the Paris Games.

"(The New York Times') main purpose is to disrupt the order of the Paris Olympic swimming competition, affect the psychology of Chinese athletes and weaken their competitive ability," CHINADA said in a statement on Wednesday.

"This is extremely unfair and immoral."

Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the New York Times responded: "We are confident in the accuracy of our reporting."

The Times' report ratcheted up already high tensions between the World Anti-Doping Agency and the U.S. anti-doping body over the handling of a case involving 23 Chinese swimmers, who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) weeks before the Tokyo Games.

Those positives were also blamed on contamination.

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart said on Tuesday that China had "swept this positive test for a hard-core steroid under the rug".

CHINADA said "doping contamination in meat products is a common problem worldwide" and mentioned the case of American sprinter Erriyon Knighton in its statement.

World silver medallist Knighton was not suspended for testing positive for a banned substance, trenbolone, earlier this year after an arbitrator found the result was likely caused by contaminated meat and he will compete in Paris.

"Relevant research shows that trenbolone is a protein anabolic preparation that has a strong effect of improving strength and explosive power, and is not a common contaminant," CHINADA said.

Reuters has contacted USADA for comment.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)