TOP 10
Notable drug scandals
Doping & drug infractions that rocked the sports world
July 27, 2006
 Chinese swimmer Yuan Yuan is escorted by a customs officer and policeman upon arriving in Perth, Australia in early 1998. Police allegedly found multiple vials inside a thermos flask in her luggage as the Chinese swim team travelled to compete at the swimming world championships. (Associated Press) |
China's suspiciously good swim team
Dihydrotestosterone, anabolic steroids, erythropoietin and human growth hormones. All banned substances. All used by various members of the Chinese national swim team in the last 15 years.
China did not register among the world's swimming powers until the 1990s, and when they did, they did with a bang.
The country won four swimming gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and then took 12 of 16 women's titles at the 1994 world championships.
The team's sudden success fuelled suspicion of drug use, and by the next big competition, those hunches proved true.
Eleven athletes tested positive for dihydrotestosterone at the 1994 Asian Games. The big bust decimated the swim squad for the 1996 Olympics (they won just one gold), but soon enough the Chinese were back on top again. Not for long, however.
Four positive tests before the 1998 world championships along with the vials of the human growth hormone found in breastroker Yuan Yuan's luggage before the worlds signalled that doping was still thriving in China's pools.
Though the country maintained there was no systemic doping on its swim teams, the statistics say otherwise.
Over 40 Chinese swimmers since 1990 have failed drug tests. That's triple the amount of any other swimming country during the same period of time.
After pressure from FINA, swimming's governing body, China's swim association promised stricter drug testing and higher penalties for cheats.
Just before the 2000 Sydney Olympics, China removed four swimmers from its team because of "suspicious" drug test results.
Chinese swimmers were rarely on the podium in major competitions until the 2003 world aquatic championships in Barcelona. There, the women's team collected seven swimming medals, including three gold.
Whether those swims were clean or not, China's young swimmers will have to compete under a cloud of suspicion for years to come due to the generation of cheaters before them.