Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay
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The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held in 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] It was the event's seventh consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1996.
Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Tokyo Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
Dates | 28 July 2021 (heats) 29 July 2021 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 72 from 15 nations | ||||||||||||
Teams | 15 | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 7:40.33 WR | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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On 20 April 2024, The New York Times revealed that 23 members of the Chinese swimming team tested positive for a performance enhancing drug called Trimetazidine seven months prior to the start of the 2020 Summer Games and were allowed to participate in the games with some of the swimmers winning medals. Following the publication of the report, Travis Tygart, CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, accused the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) of covering up doping by Chinese swimmers.[2][3] In response to Tygart's comments, WADA stated that it "stands by the results of its rigorous scientific investigation" into the case and was "astonished by the outrageous, completely false and defamatory remarks while CHINADA stated that the reports were misleading and that the doping tests they conducted only found that the swimmers had only tested extremely low concentration of Trimetazidine which was due to contamination at the hotel they were residing at that time."
WADA also alleged USADA's similar conclusions of contamination involving more than 10 athletes in the U.S. in the statement.[4] However, Tygart said those athletes in question were not American and not involved with USADA (those were non-American MMA fighters), stating "it suggests WADA's decision to allow China to sweep the 23 cases under the rug without consequence is apparently just the tip of the iceberg."[5] Tygart noted that “at least some” of the positive tests featured TMZ levels in a similar range as Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who was dealt a four-year sanction after WADA appealed.[6] USADA, along with the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Rahul Gupta, called for an independent investigation into the matter.[5] WADA responded to these allegations by appointing Eric Cottier as an independent prosecutor to review its handling of the case. USADA has not agreed with this decision, calling the appointment "self-serving."[7] In a statement on the 25th of April, WADA said it expected Cottier to deliver his findings "within two months."[8]