The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it had dropped its case against the US Anti-Doping Agency in a dispute involving 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for doping on the eve of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, BTA reported.
News of the positive tests sparked a war of words between the two agencies and an investigation by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, who found that WADA had not shown "favoritism or complacency" towards China. The swimmers were not punished after WADA accepted the Chinese authorities' explanation that the swimmers were exposed to the banned substance trimetazidine through contamination from spice containers in the kitchen of a hotel where they were staying.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says the swimmers should have been temporarily suspended and has criticized WADA for a lack of transparency about the situation. WADA said it brought the case against the U.S. agency and CEO Travis Tygart to protect its reputation but now feels vindicated by Cottier's findings.
"In the interest of moving forward and focusing our efforts on strengthening the global anti-doping system that the community has worked hard to build for 25 years, WADA has decided to drop the case against Mr. Tygart and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency," the statement said. Travis Tygart, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters, said he was not satisfied with Cottier's conclusions when they were published in September.