China has said that burgers was the likely root cause of why two of its swimmers ended up testing positive for a banned steroid.
Alexander Spatari/Getty Images
A Chinese swimmer competing in the Paris Olympics was cleared of doping accusations after authorities sourced the drugs back to a tainted burger, according to a New York Times report.
Tang Muhan, who is expected to compete Thursday, is one of several athletes involved in the complex and long-running dispute, The New York Times reported.
She and another athlete, He Junyi, tested positive in 2022 for traces of the banned steroid metandienone, which helps build muscle.
He is not participating in the games this year.
After suspending the swimmers, China's anti-doping authority, Chinada, secretly cleared the athletes in late 2023, saying they most likely ingested the steroid through tainted meat when they ate burgers and fries at a Beijing restaurant, the paper reported.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has backed the Chinese decision, releasing a statement on Tuesday that did not include names but appeared to reference the reporting.
"There was no evidence to challenge contaminated meat as the source of the positive tests," the statement read.
Nonetheless, the decision has come under fire from others within the anti-doping world, with Travis Tygart, the CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, posting to X, "China seemingly has the playbook to compete under a different set of rules tilting the field in their favor."
At least one expert for the World Anti-Doping Agency was not convinced by the Chinada explanation, the NYT reported.
People with knowledge of the situation also told the paper that at least one person at the International Testing Agency, another anti-doping organization, also felt that WADA should appeal the decision.
The case comes in the wake of earlier NYT reporting that 23 Chinese athletes had tested positive for another banned medication in 2021. They were ultimately cleared in a Chinada investigation that traced the problem back to a hotel kitchen; and they went on to compete.
Unknowingly taking in banned substances through eating normal foods is not unheard of in pro sports, and extensive testing and investigation are often involved in tracing the accused athletes' meals.
US track athlete Shelby Houlihan was suspended in 2021 after she tested positive for trace amounts of the steroid nandrolone.
Getty/Stephen McCarthy
Houlihan said at the time that she had never heard of the drug, and offered the possibility that it could be traced back to a pork burrito she ate a few hours before the test.
However, her four-year ban remains still upheld, barring her from competing at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics.
Chinada's investigation said it only found "trace" levels of metandienone when testing Tang and He, and that this was consistent only with contamination, not doping, the NYT reported.
Chinada told the paper that it does its work in "strict accordance" with global rules, and "has always maintained a scientific, rigorous and objective attitude, adhered to a firm stance of 'zero tolerance' for doping."
China has cleared athletes of doping charges at least three times in the past, the paper reported.
In its Tuesday statement, WADA detailed why it was satisfied with China's authorities. It said it has opened a wide-ranging investigation into the scale of potential meat contamination across China, which is still ongoing.
The body also said it was being unfairly caught up in a media and political circus, suggesting — without naming the NYT — that recent media reporting was part of the "politicization of Chinese swimming."
Representatives of Chinada, WADA, and the Chinese Olympics Committee did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, sent outside of ordinary working hours.
Business Insider was unable to directly contact Tang or He for comment.
