Questions Emerge About Data Used by China to Defend Against Doping Allegations
China and the World Anti-Doping Agency say that positive tests for a banned drug among elite Chinese swimmers were a result of unwitting contamination. But the science behind that assertion is not so clear.
Tariq Panja, who reported from London, and Michael S. Schmidt, who reported from New York, both have extensive experience covering doping in sports.
Since the revelation that 23 elite Chinese swimmers tested positive before the 2021 Olympics for a banned performance-enhancing drug, Chinese and antidoping officials have repeatedly defended their decision not to discipline the athletes by invoking scientific analysis.
The officials said the science — which relied heavily on hastily arranged human trials of the drug in question — backed up their conclusion that the swimmers were unwittingly contaminated, most likely through food served to them at a hotel where they were staying during a meet.
But an examination by The New York Times of the secret human trials conducted by the Chinese during their investigation into the positive tests and interviews with experts suggests the science is not as clear-cut as the officials have claimed.
