US avoids doping tests Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times

After smearing Chinese athletes in recent months over so-called doping problems, the US is now facing mounting pressure over its own alleged violations, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) now speaking out on the issue.    

Chinese analysts urged the US to respond to public queries and concerns, as well as stop discrediting others, double-standard behaviors, and long-arm jurisdiction.

They pointed out that no matter how the US responded to the questioning and suspicion over its alleged anti-doping practices, it will be hard to dispel doubts over whether it will be able to organize a fair and non-politicized Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, due to its reckless smearing campaign against China.  

With the campaign around doping issues intensifying during the Paris Olympic Games, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams on Thursday expressed support for WADA, saying the IOC will continue to work with its stakeholders to make sure there are "good and robust" anti-doping systems.

WADA recently came under US attack, as the agency confirmed China was blameless after US media hyped a 2021 incident in which 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) due to inadvertent contamination.

The US' hype since April 2024 of the 2021 case led to an excessive anti-doping testing scheme against Chinese athletes ahead of and during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Conversely, USADA has allowed American sprinter Erriyon Knighton to compete in the Paris Olympic Games without suspension, after he tested positive for trenbolone. USADA attributed the result to meat contamination despite the fact trenbolone is not frequently found as a contaminant.

Meanwhile, in a statement released on Wednesday, WADA also exposed a scheme that allowed US athletes who had committed doping violations to compete without sanctions for years. WADA noted that this practice is a blatant violation of the World Anti-Doping Code and the US Anti-Doping Agency's own regulations.

Yuyuantantian, a media arm of China Media Group, reported on Friday that the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed to the media that related reports have led to the excessive anti-doping tests on the Chinese Olympic swimming team. 

Before the Paris Games opened, WADA chief Witold Banka warned the US on July 24 that USADA's baseless accusations against Chinese athletes are "politically motivated" and "biased against China." In response, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced a bill threatening to cut US funding for WADA and accusing it of failing to properly investigate alleged doping by Chinese Olympic swimmers, according to a Reuters report.

"It is ironic and hypocritical that USADA cries foul when it suspects other Anti-Doping Organizations are not following the rules to the letter while it did not announce doping cases for years and allowed cheats to carry on competing, on the off chance they might help them catch other possible violators," reads the WADA statement.  

It is rare for WADA to accuse a country with sharp language, and more importantly, WADA and the IOC are not showing bias against China despite being dominated by Westerners, said a Beijing-based commentator.  

BBC reported on August 1 that a WADA official said "Certain individuals [in the US] are attempting to score political points purely on the basis that the athletes in question are Chinese… the result is that it has created distrust and division within the anti-doping system."

Discrediting China on the anti-doping issue has a political intention and is being led by politicians, said the commentator, adding that "the US is attempting to demonize China, just like they have done in other fields."

"What would they say if it was an American athlete being forced to take so many drug tests? Should American athletes be tested with the same frequency? Those are questions to be thought about," he noted. 

In addition, some American swimmers had a purple discoloration on their faces after completing their races in the Paris Olympics events, sparking widespread online discussion and suspicion over stimulant use. 

"The US has a lot more that remains to be explained to the world," said the commentator. 

Calling for fair play

The China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) on Thursday called for an independent investigation into USADA's misconduct and intensified testing on US track and field athletes and efforts to rebuild global trust in fair competition.

Given the deep-rooted stains in US athletics and USADA's repeated disregard for procedures and standards, there is reason to suspect that there is a systemic doping problem in track and field in the US, and the positive cases therein deserve continuous investigation and attention, CHINADA said, listing several US doping scandals. 

China's state news agency Xinhua also listed five concerns and suspicions over US anti-doping work, including how to ensure fair play when the vast majority of US athletes are outside WADA's global anti-doping system, and its Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act that allows the US to impose sanctions on others, but not certain US athletes. 

According to a recent poll released by CGTN, 96.84 percent of over 15,000 respondents around the world believe that the US lacks respect for WADA while 96.25 percent strongly criticize the US for its "double standards" in doping regulation. 

The immediate cause of the US-staged anti-doping farce against China is that the US perceives China as challenging its decades-long dominance in certain sports, said the commentator. "Such thinking is in nature no different from the US suppression of Huawei's technological development and smearing of China's 'unfair competition'."

Team China has won 12 medals in swimming in Paris, double the total in Tokyo. The two gold medals in the men's 100 freestyle and men's 4x100-meter medley relay were one of the most significant breakthroughs.  

China has also won historic golds in women's singles tennis and artistic swimming, which frustrated some Americans steeped in habitual notions of superiority, as US dominance shrinks, analysts said. 

With the development of China's economy and a huge population and potential participants, more breakthroughs can be expected in fields like swimming and tennis, which require more resources and investment, said the commentator.