Adam Peaty questioned China’s victory in the men’s 4x100m medley relay after the swimming concluded at the 2024 Olympics.
China won a thrilling race ahead of the United States and France, with Peaty’s Team GB missing out on the podium after finishing fourth.
But triple Olympic champion Peaty – who raced alongside Oliver Morgan, Duncan Scott and Matt Richards – said afterwards: “One of my favourite quotes I’ve seen lately is that there’s no point winning if you’re not winning fair.”
Before the Paris Games, The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) seven months before the Tokyo Games in 2021 but were allowed to compete.
Relay gold medallists Qin and Sun Jiajun were reportedly among those swimmers, with all cleared to compete on the basis of a finding they had unknowingly ingested the drug via contaminated food.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it could not disprove the explanation provided by the Chinese anti-doping agency that the positive tests resulted from athletes eating contaminated meat at a training-camp hotel.
An independent report in July later found that WADA did not show bias towards China in its handling of the case.
Speaking to reporters after the relay on Sunday, Peaty said: “One of my favourite quotes I’ve seen lately is that there’s no point winning if you’re not winning fair. I think you know that truth in your heart.”
Appearing to reference a New York Times allegation that Qin returned a positive test for a different performance-enhancing drug in 2017 – which was blamed on food contamination at the time – Peaty added: “If you touch and you know that you’re cheating, you’re not winning. For me, if you’ve been on that and you have been ‘contaminated’ twice, I think as an honourable person you should be out of the sport.
“I don’t want to paint a whole nation or group of people with one brush, I think that’s very unfair. But there have been two cases of it and it’s very disappointing.
“But I think to the people that need to do their job – wake up and do your job. I think we have to have faith in the system. But we also don’t. I think it’s got to be stricter.”
Qin has previously accused his opponents of being “threatened”, saying on Chinese social media platform Weibo – as reported by the BBC: “Some tricks aim to disrupt our preparation rhythm and destroy our psychological defence. But we are not afraid.”
After claiming the bronze medal in the women’s 200 metres butterfly on Thursday, China’s Zhang Yufei responded to team doping allegations, saying: “If someone still does not believe it, then we don’t want to debate any further because I believe we are innocent.
“Why do Chinese athletes need to be suspected when they swim really fast?”
Peaty casts doubt on future
Meanwhile, Peaty described how he had had the “worst week” of his life physically after testing positive for Covid on Monday, having bagged silver in the men’s 100m breaststroke the night before.
On whether this would be his last Olympics, the six-time Olympic medallist said: “Tomorrow is never promised and if my heart wants it my heart wants it and I will sign that contract with myself to do it.
“That could be a long way away, but I think I’ve got to step away from the sport because it hurt too much this time.
“I’m going to take some time off everything and I don’t really know what the answer is. I’m taking time, if my family needs me they need me. I don’t know you can’t lie to your heart but if it wants it, it wants it.”
How to follow the Olympics on Sky
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