China has fired back at Team USA reports that nearly two-dozen Chinese swimmers failed drug tests ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games.
Chinese state-run media outlet the Global Times released a series of articles on American Olympian Erriyon Knighton, a 20-year-old sprinter from Tampa, Florida. One article pointed out that Knighton in March tested positive for trenbolone, an anabolic steroid commonly used on beef cattle in the U.S. to induce muscle growth.
In June the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) granted Knighton a no-fault violation, clearing him for competition. USADA said an arbitrator ruled that his positive test result was most likely a result of eating meat contaminated with trenbolone.
The Global Times on Wednesday expressed "many lingering doubts" about Knighton's "doping case." It called for closer scrutiny of U.S. track and field athletes, including the release of sample concentrations and third-party tests.
Positive tests for trenbolone have resulted in penalties for athletes in recent years, with the USADA in 2018 suspending former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum for two years.
The Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020 overturned a four-year ban on U.S. Olympic long jumper Jarrion Lawson after deeming he, like Knighton, had eaten trenbolone-containing beef.
Pointing out that other athletes have been sanctioned in the past, the Global Times said, "Why was Knighton exceptional? How did such a small probability event 'happen' to occur to Knighton?"
In a statement on Tuesday, the Chinese Anti-Doping Center echoed the Global Times' complaint that the results of the USADA investigation had not been verified by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which was founded by the International Olympic Committee.
"The Knighton case just shows that USADA's rhetoric about fairness and clean sport runs counter to actual practices," it added. The center said the U.S. has "turned a blind eye to its long history of doping problems" while being "obsessed with cross-border jurisdiction and asserting sanctions against other countries.
Team China has been embroiled in controversy after it was belatedly revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a drug banned by WADA for its endurance-enhancing potential, prior to the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo in 2021.
WADA accepted China's explanation that the positive tests were the result of accidental contamination at a hotel, and no penalties were imposed. Of the 23 swimmers, 11 are competing in the 2024 Games.
Newsweek reached out to WADA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee with written requests for comment.
Knighton is a two-time 200-meter medalist at the world championships, where he won a bronze in 2022 and a silver in 2023. Also in 2023, he claimed his first national title at the U.S. Track and Field Championships.
He will race in the 200-meter semifinals Wednesday evening along with fellow American sprinters Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek and reigning champion Andre de Grasse of Canada.
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