The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (Chinada) said on Tuesday that it has reiterated its stance against the double standards of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).
Chinada recalled that Usada had accused Chinada and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) of ‘covering up the truth’ and called for sanctions against Chinese athletes, while Usada was doing its best to exonerate American athletes following a series of domestic cases.
Responding to a Global Times report on Monday about suspicions surrounding US sprint star Erriyon Knighton, the under-20 men’s 200m world record holder, who tested positive for the banned steroid trenbolone in an out-of-competition test in March 2024, Chinada said the case ‘shows that Usada’s rhetoric about fairness and clean sport contradicts its actual practice’.
Usada had previously argued that the analytical result was inconsistent with meat contamination and had sought a four-year ban against Knighton, but then, before the start of the US Olympic qualifiers, it abruptly decided that Knighton would not face disqualification and claimed that the athlete’s positive result was due to eating contaminated meat, ultimately allowing him to represent the US at the Paris Olympics.
Wada said in June that it was difficult to understand how Usada could declare that ‘justice had been done’ in the Knighton case, and Wada president Witold Banka said Usada’s sudden U-turn was ‘particularly interesting’.
Pointing out that research shows trenbolone is an anabolic agent with strong power and explosive effects, not a common contaminant, Chinada said the US is ignoring its long history of doping problems but is obsessed with extraterritorial jurisdiction and sanctions against other countries.
Erriyon Knighton qualified for the men’s 200m semi-finals today (7 August) with his time on Monday.
In the run-up to the Paris Olympics, the Chinese swimming team has come under intense scrutiny from the US media and even the US Department of Justice and the FBI. Both Wada and Chinada have been accused by the US media of ‘covering up’ a food contamination case in 2021, when Chinese swimmers were due to compete in Paris.
