Inside the high-stakes dispute between the U.S. and World Anti-Doping agencies over Chinese Olympic swimmers

London — The global anti-doping agency tasked with preventing doping fraud in international sports, including the Olympics, has threatened to take the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to an independent compliance review board in a dispute that could jeopardize U.S. plans to host the 2028 Summer Olympics and 2034 Winter Olympics, Reuters reported on Wednesday. It all comes down to a U.S. investigation into an alleged state-backed sports doping program aimed at preparing Chinese Olympic athletes.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said it will take the US anti-doping body to its Independent Compliance Review Board next month over a one-sided US investigation that could jeopardize its current status, sources told Reuters. Los Angeles AND Salt Lake City as future hosts of the Games.

China’s reputation as a global sports powerhouse was damaged when 23 swimmers tested positive for the same controlled substance – trimetazedine – just months before Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. Chinese officials said the athletes took the drug inadvertently and were not banned by national sports authorities. International regulators accepted China’s explanation, and the swimmers never received any bans. Eleven of them are scheduled to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, which officially begin on Friday.

Their presence at the Games angered some Team USA swimmers.

“Everything we do to compete on a level playing field is incredibly frustrating when we don’t have faith that others are doing the same,” said American breaststroke specialist Lilly King.

Last month, the world’s most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, testified before Congress about the positive tests of Chinese athletes, telling lawmakers: “People are just getting away with it. You know, there are people who still test positive and still have the opportunity to compete internationally. What?!”

Xue Yinxian is a retired doctor who told CBS News she has first-hand knowledge of doping in China’s state sports system. She said she was a doctor at the China General Administration of Sports, treating elite athletes from the 1960s to 1989, a period in which she says state-sponsored doping began — at the behest of, she says, high-ranking government officials.

Dr Xue said that if athletes refuse to take banned substances, they will be sent home. She said she opposes doping and has witnessed the effects of drugs, including steroids and growth hormone, on athletes as young as 11.

“The boys started growing breasts,” she told CBS News. “They asked me what to do.”

Unlike in the U.S., many young Chinese athletes are trained in state-run sports schools. Previous reports on the program have described it as an assembly line, with athletes recruited from early childhood to win glory for their nation — no matter the cost. China’s government said in June that it has zero tolerance for doping and insisted it is committed to ensuring fair competition.

Dr. Xue was granted political asylum in Germany in 2017. She gave testimony to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

CBS News obtained a document showing that WADA found Dr. Xue to be a “credible witness” but determined there was “insufficient evidence” to prove the existence of a “wide-scale doping system” in China.

Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, who led the investigation into cyclist Lance Armstrong’s doping operation, told CBS News he was frustrated by Dr. Xue’s claims, which he said showed a clear pattern, but which were not being taken more seriously by WADA.

“Of course, there was evidence for years — again, there were 23 positives — so it fits like a glove,” Tygart said. “We know the history. I think you have to look at the evidence. But the evidence is there to be seriously examined.”

“I think that’s what athletes around the world and anti-doping experts around the world are expecting,” he said. “The Olympic Games themselves deserve it.”

WADA told CBS News that it did launch a formal investigation into Dr. Xue’s allegations — including retesting samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics — but found nothing to support her claims. WADA also points out that Dr. Xue did not witness the alleged doping, something she readily admits.

Below is WADA’s full response to this CBS News report:

After conducting extensive interviews with Dr. Xue Yinxian, WADA’s Intelligence and Investigations (I&I) Department initiated a formal investigation in 2017 into each of her numerous allegations. In 2018, WADA’s I&I Department reported the findings of the investigation to the WADA Executive Committee.

Interestingly, most of Dr. Xue’s accusations related to conduct dating back to the 1980s and 1990s, a period before the creation of WADA and the World Anti-Doping Code. While Dr. Xue was indeed considered a credible witness, she did not personally witness doping or any of the alleged misconduct. Even if the World Anti-Doping Code had been in existence at the time most of the alleged misconduct occurred (which it did not), the historical nature of the accusations meant that the statute of limitations had already expired. Furthermore, there was insufficient evidence to support her accusation of a massive doping scheme.

As one of Dr. Xue’s allegations related to alleged actions during the Beijing (2008) and London (2012) Olympic Games, part of the WADA I&I investigation included re-analysis of samples withheld by the IOC from those events. This did not yield any findings that would corroborate Dr. Xue’s allegations. Re-analysis of samples from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is also ongoing and has not uncovered any corroborating evidence.

In short, WADA diligently investigated all allegations made by Dr. Xue, but after exhausting all lines of inquiry, no evidence was found that would lead to further action by anti-doping authorities.