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Perhaps the biggest story of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris is the massive doping scandal surrounding the Chinese swim team.
Twenty-three Chinese Olympic swimmers tested positive for potent performance-enhancing drugs on the eve of the Tokyo Games. Their results were secretly swept under the rug by China and the international governing body. In April, we learned that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Chinese Anti-Doping Agency officials did not publicly disclose the positive doping tests.
One of those swimmers was Fei Liwei, who did not compete in Tokyo but tested positive for Trimetazidine, a drug that helps the heart use energy more efficiently.
Liwei entered the 2024 games unseeded in the 400-meter freestyle. But on Saturday, he shocked the swimming world when he posted the third-best time in his heat race, easily advancing to the finals.
Yes, our new Chinese sensation, Fei Liwei, has easily qualified for the final. Third seed.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 27, 2024
American Stars Skeptical Of Chinese Swimmers Amid Doping Scandal
Liwei joins 20-year-old American Aaron Shackell in the finals, as well as top two seeds Lucas Maertens of Germany and Guilherme Costa of Brazil.
American stars Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky spoke out about WADA’s handling of positive tests earlier this week.
“No, not really. I don’t think they have given us enough evidence to support how this case was handled,” Dressel said when asked if he was confident that all competitors at this year’s games would be “clean.”
Ledecky also expressed her skepticism
“I hope everyone here is going to be competing clean this week. But what really matters also is, were they training clean?” she said Wednesday. “Hopefully, that’s been the case. Hopefully, there’s been even testing around the world.”
Both Ledecky and Dressel are multi-time Olympic gold medalists. Liwei, 21, is making his first Olympic appearance. Should he win a medal, there will undoubtedly be a number of skeptics across the swimming world.