It seems everything Leon Marchand touches turns to gold. The 22-year-old French phenom didn’t have any Olympic medals before Paris. Now he has four and is highly likely to win a fifth. Bob Bowman’s pupil’s most recent gold medal came in the 200m individual medley, where he broke Michael Phelps‘ longstanding record of 1:54.23, with 1:54:06. However, amidst his success, an incident has cast a shadow of doubt.

French fans are celebrating their hero, who broke a 12-year drought for French men’s swimming and started a literal gold rush. However, swimming is in a tough spot when you look at the bigger picture. The WADA and CHINADA doping controversy has everyone on edge, and somehow the man of the moment has found himself at the center of it.

On Monday, July 29, testers arrived at the Olympic Village at 5:45 am. Their goal? A scheduled dr*g test for Leon Marchand. However, there was one problem, the 22-year-old swimmer wasn’t in his room. In fact, he wasn’t even inside the Athletes’ Village. The French Swimming Federation had permitted Marchand and many others to sleep at a hotel.

The swimmer who had swum four times in one day to qualify for the Tuesday 200fly and 200 breaststroke finals needed sleep. However, the infamous cardboard beds wouldn’t allow for a good night’s rest, forcing Marchand to a hotel near La Défense Arena. This meant that the swimmer had missed his scheduled dr*g test, which was a huge offense.

Tensions run high among the swimming community, especially recent reports suggested Chinese Anti-Doping Agency had cleared 23 swimmers—who failed dr*g tests ahead of the Tokyo Olympics—saying the athletes had mistakenly consumed tainted food.

WADA, the anti-doping foremost authority, had reviewed the evidence and upheld the decision. The global regulator was reportedly provided with intelligence “suggesting a cover-up” but still refused to act on it, citing “lack of credible evidence”. Furthermore, refusal to publicly acknowledge the incident sparked outrage, with Chinese authorities and swimmers facing severe scrutiny.

Later, British swimmer Adam Peaty took it a step further when he criticised Chinese swimmers and the regulatory authorities. “If you touch and you know that you’re cheating, you’re not winning, right?” he said after missing out on a podium finish in the  4×100 medley on August 4, that China dominated. He also took an indirect dig at officials, saying, “To the people that need to do their job – wake up and do your job.”

Leon Marchand’s incident has only exacerbated the situation. Many fans are now asking why Marchand is getting a free pass.

Are the fans missing out on important points while slamming Leon Marchand?

Some fans simply couldn’t accept the 22-year-old competing and winning medals despite missing a drug test. “You are a doping and cheating fraud,” commented one fan on Marchand’s X post. Meanwhile, another who had praised the Frenchman before learning about the incident changed their tone. “I take back my previous tweet about Leon Marchand. I hope the next time he pees, he will be caught doping,” the individual commented. However, there’s one problem.

Although Leon Marchand missed the test, he might not have been at fault. Apparently, it was the testing agents who made the mistake. The 4x Olympic gold medalist’s team had updated his whereabouts in the ADAMS system before he left the Olympic Village. However, it seems the WADA agents didn’t get the update. Hence, instead of a heavy penalty, the champion swimmer racked up golds.

While this only highlights yet another issue with WADA’s operations, Marchand was not at fault. Yet some argued why Chinese athletes, such as Pan Zhanle, faced public criticism despite not missing a single test. “If Leon Marchand was Asian, you’d see the craziest doping allegations circulating,” commented one netizen. Zahnle had to publicly attest to getting tested 29 times leading up to the Paris Olympics.

On the other hand, one of the Chinese swimmers, Qin Haiyang, who failed the drug tests, had said he was a victim of an “American and European” plot.

However, some remained suspicious about yet another cover-up. “And right now we have ‘Leon Marchand’ a French swimmer who broke Phelps’s record. Who just happened to miss his anti-doping tests… He has yet to be checked,” commented a user.

The X user seemed misinformed about the “yet to be checked” part, as Marchand didn’t miss any following tests. In fact, as a gold medalist, he underwent extra testing. Yet, fans asked why Marchand is celebrated while others face allegations. “Explain to me like I’m 12 why Leon Marchand is celebrated everywhere, but someone like Tadej Pogacar is immediately accused of doping after winning two stages,” the fan said.

Notably, the Slovenian professional cyclist clinched six stage wins in the Tour de France, the most since Bernard Hinault in 1979, and was later accused of cheating. The 25-year-old had clarified, “There will always be doubts. Because of cycling before my time, in any sport, if someone is winning, there’s always jealousy and haters … I tell you now, it’s not worth it. Taking anything to risk your health is stupid.”

“I admire both athletes, but I don’t understand why there is a double standard,” asked the individual. Australian swimming coach Brett Hawke had said Zhanle winning the 100m freestyle in Paris by a body length was not“humanly possible. However, Leon Marchand did the same during his 200 IM victory.

The French Michael Phelps looks to earn his fifth gold medal tonight in the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay. However, it seems the missed dr*g test controversy will continue to live in the shadow of his success for the foreseeable future.