Presenter Neil Mitchell has claimed China’s Olympic swimming campaigns are “based on cheating” after the country blamed Australian beef imports for the detection of steroids in two of its swimmers.
The pair tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2022 but the results were not made public and they were later cleared when China’s anti-doping agency concluded the drug was likely consumed via contaminated burgers made from Australian beef.
“They’re protecting them. The Chinese system is designed to cheat… There were 23 (competitors) in Tokyo and 11 here (in Paris) under suspicion,” Mitchell told Sunrise’s Nat Barr on Thursday, after the presenter said “it seems the Chinese are treated differently” when it comes to drugs in sport.
The panel discussion came just after Kyle Chalmers was beaten in the 100m freestyle by Chinese star Pan Zhanle, who broke his own world record to win gold by coming in with an incredible one-second lead over the Australian.
Amanda Rose, founder of Western Sydney Women, also on the panel, said it appeared the rules on banned substances were not applied equally to all countries competing at the Olympics.
“I don’t know if this is a diversionary technique of ‘Hey, we’ve been caught, let’s blame the Australians’ because we are a small country.
“It seems that one country is tested and may be exempt, while other countries receive a more severe punishment… I think testing of athletes at the Olympics should be simplified and perhaps audited.”
Mitchell agreed, pointing to the case of Australian swimmer Shayna Jack, who tested positive for the anabolic agent Ligandrol through an out-of-competition test conducted by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority in 2019.
Presenter Neil Mitchell claimed to Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr that drug use was entrenched in China’s Olympic swimming programme, after Barr said it appears “the Chinese are treated differently” when it comes to drugs in sport.
The panel discussion came just after Kyle Chalmers was beaten in the 100m freestyle by Chinese star Pan Zhanle, who came in a massive second ahead of the Australian.
China blames Australia for two of the country’s swimming stars failing doping tests in 2022
“She was banned. Her results were made public and she was unable to compete for two years. It seems that Chinese people are treated differently,” he said.
Mitchell said: ‘We’ve known for 50 years that this kind of thing happens… being naive and eating something without knowing you’re taking the drug is no excuse.
“I might pop into McDonald’s and have a 250g burger for breakfast. Maybe it’s a way to get me going a bit.”
He added that “theThe real question was whether other athletes at the Paris Games would be happy to share the podium with Chinese swimmers.
‘Do they make a MacHorton?’ They make a statement and don’t get up on stage to share it with an anti-drug cheat?
“This is detrimental to their moment, but I would like to see a fair protest from the rest of the athletes who are being harmed.”
A Chinese investigation has found that stars consumed a steroid by eating burgers made with Australian beef (file image)
In 2019, Horton received a standing ovation in the athletes’ village after protesting against Chinese star Sun Yang’s controversial victory in the 400m freestyle at the world swimming titles.
Olympic champion Horton did not shake hands with his bitter rival after being relegated to silver in the 400m freestyle and refused to join him on the podium on the opening night of the titles in Gwangju, South Korea.
Horton was unhappy that Sun, who already served a doping ban in 2014, had been allowed to compete before a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing.
The hearing focused on allegations that the 10-time world champion smashed a container containing vials of his blood with a hammer during a confrontation with evaluators.
He was subsequently banned from competing for four years and three months for the incident.
US breaststroke champion Lilly King later revealed that Horton was greeted with applause by his fellow competitors when he returned from the pool after refusing to acknowledge Sun.
Mack Horton (left) refused to take the podium after being defeated by controversial Chinese star Sun Yang (center) in 2019.
The latest claims about two Chinese swimmers testing positive for a strong steroid in 2022, one of whom is on China’s team in Paris, were published in the New York Times.
The publication claimed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had reservations about the contaminated burger theory but decided not to appeal China’s decision not to impose bans on the swimmers.
“The politicization of Chinese swimming continues with this latest attempt by the US media to insinuate wrongdoing by WADA and the broader anti-doping community,” WADA said in a lengthy statement on Tuesday.
‘As we have seen in recent months, WADA has been unfairly caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions between superpowers, but has no mandate to engage in them.’
