The case, involving multiple swimmers who seven months later won medals at the 2021 Games, prompted accusations of a cover-up and concerns over why antidoping regulators chose not to intervene.
Zhang Yufei, center, was one of 23 top Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug months before the Tokyo Olympic Games.Credit...Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Michael S. Schmidt, who reported from New York, and Tariq Panja, who reported from London and Lausanne, Switzerland, have both written extensively about doping in sports.
- April 20, 2024
Twenty-three top Chinese swimmers tested positive for the same powerful banned substance seven months before the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 but were allowed to escape public scrutiny and continue to compete after top Chinese officials secretly cleared them of doping and the global authority charged with policing drugs in sports chose not to intervene.