Katie Ledecky says her faith in anti-doping at ‘all-time low’ ahead of Paris Olympics

NEW YORK – Seven-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky’s faith in the anti-doping system ahead of the Paris Olympics is at an “all-time low”, amid the widely criticised handling of failed drug tests in Chinese swimming.

In an interview with CBS News Sunday Morning that will air this weekend, the American spoke about

the 23 Chinese swimmers who avoided sanctions after testing positive

for a banned performance-enhancing substance months before the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“It’s hard going into Paris knowing that we’re going to be racing some of these athletes,” said the 27-year-old, a freestyle specialist and the reigning 800m and 1,500m Olympic champion.

“And I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low. You try not to think too much about (it) when you’re actually racing. And the best thing to do is to just go out there and try to win.

“But it’s tough when you have in the back of your head that it’s not necessarily an even-playing field.”

China’s anti-doping agency cleared the swimmers of wrongdoing before the Tokyo Olympics, deciding that the positive tests were the result of being inadvertently exposed to the banned substance through food contamination.

A report determined that all the swimmers who tested positive were staying at the same hotel where traces of trimetazidine (TMZ) – a banned heart medication – were discovered in the kitchen.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which accepted China’s findings in 2021, said in April it would launch an independent review of the case amid pressure from athletes and national anti-doping authorities.

But the global doping body also vigorously defended its initial handling of the case and said it had no evidence to question China’s finding that the swimmers were unknowingly contaminated by TMZ.

“I think the whole case has to be re-examined independently and thoroughly and all the information needs to be out there,” added Ledecky, whose seven Olympic and 21 World Championship gold medals are the most by any female swimmer.

“In this instance, it doesn’t seem like everything was followed to a T. So, I’d like to see some accountability here.

“I’d like to see some answers as to why this happened the way it did. And I’d really like to see that steps are taken for the future, so that we can regain some confidence in the global system.”

The Paris Olympics, which would be Ledecky’s fourth, begin on July 26.

The American – who is preparing for the US Olympic trials later in June – has three silver medals besides her seven golds at the London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Olympics combined, and is a favourite to capture more in the French capital. REUTERS, AFP