“Ban Them All”: James Guy Joins Swimming Community in Angry Twitter Rant Over China’s Olympic Doping Controversy

All is not fair in doping and swimming. This double-edged sword has been raging on for many an Olympics. When the debates regarding Chinese swimmer Sun Yang’s absence from the Paris Olympics because of doping charges were settling in, a fresh report unfolded with big names at the forefront. The alleged antagonist is the same Chinese anti-doping authorities (CHINADA) and the issue is also the same- taking banned substances just before the big occasion.

This time, as per available reports, 23 Chinese swimmers took Trimetazidine (TMZ) to enhance their performance just before the Tokyo Olympics. Eventually, no one tinkered with the issue until the watchdogs raised eyebrows. That enormous blunder has drawn a lot of flak from the swimming fans and the elites, including James Guy, who is still competing with the alleged accused swimmers. 

James Guy sends his brickbats aimed at the swimmers and authorities 

The precarious nature of the issue seems awkwardly deep. As per the available report, the Chinese officials had found a positive report from the doping test just before the Tokyo Olympics. It included the top names such as Qin Haiyang, the world champion, Zhang Yufei, the Chinese prodigy, and Wang Shun, another swimming prominence. Allegedly, CHINADA reported it as mass contamination to veil the actual report on the brink of the Tokyo Olympics. That led to WADA and FINA (presently World Aquatics) bypassing the case without throwing any judgment. However, things differed from some other organizations. 

The International Testing Agency(ITA) and the US Anti-Doping Agency(USADA) chased after the reports and the Chinese bunch of swimmers. To everyone’s awe, the 30-strong Chinese team bagged six medals from the Tokyo Olympics, including three golds. Zhang Yufei remained the standout among those swimmers, winning two gold medals, and shattering the world record. So after such a disproportionate issue, ITA had promised to check things strictly. However, fans and competitors like James Guy are finding it hard to digest the issue without a revolt. 

The situation is gaining heat 

In his staunch opposition, James Guy, the British swimmer, and Qin Haiyang’s competitor, brought his statements to the fore on X. The Commonwealth Games medalist asked for a complete ban on the accused Chinese swimmers: “Ban them all and never compete again”. 

Leon Marchand, the French wunderkind and Tokyo Olympics medalist, displayed his aghast as well after the ARD Doping Editorial Team had published the fiasco.

Meanwhile, fans have called for resolute action on the issue and thanked the watchdogs when the larger authorities missed the mark to intervene. One such came in the comment of X-handle, please clap’s comment. The handle ridiculed China’s excuses.

Another X-handle, walkawayAUS compared the situation with NFL great OJ Simpson, who also got ‘off because of contamination’. The fan asked for a similar effect on the Chinese swimmers bearing the accusations.

When things felt so gloomy that Robert dinca couldn’t find words to express the depth of it, Stuart Tyrer called for a solution. 

The fan felt dead-rubber after so many doping cases at the Olympics. Now the fan is on the side of not watching the Olympics anymore. 

With all this said and done, doping is a persistent issue in the wake of any top notch sporting event. We can consider instances such as the 2024 Winter Olympics where there were aspersions that Russian athletes were a party to a state-run doping program and even harkening back to the 1980 Summer Olympics. Will we see this pall of gloom end and athletes resorting to pure champion energy to succeed big time? One can only hope.