Katie Ledecky remembers her Tokyo Olympics silver medal winning team amidst Chinese doping scandal

By Nandika Chand

Modified Apr 23, 2024 04:04 GMT

Swimming's all-time great Katie Ledecky has highlighted the US women's 4x200m relay team's silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics amidst the Chinese doping scandal.

The US women's team comprising Ledecky, Paige Madden, and Katie McLaughlin finished second in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay, while China secured first position with a new world record at 7:40:33.

Ledecky was among the several athletes who reacted to a statement by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) on 23 Chinese swimmers testing positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) a few months before the Tokyo Olympics.

The 7x Olympic gold medalist shared a picture of her Tokyo Olympics relay team on her Instagram story.

Katie Ledecky shares on her Instagram story

The Chinese team shattered the world record with a time of 7:40.33, while the US team covered the course with a time of 7:40.73.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Ledecky also claimed gold medals in the 1500m and 800m freestyle, and a silver in the 400m freestyle.

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Katie Ledecky could get another gold medal if Chinese women's relay team face disqualification

Katie Ledecky at the Toyota US Open - Day 2

Amid growing outcry about the Chinese swimmers doping case, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief executive Tygart rebuked the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and touched on disqualification. He said:

"In all contamination cases that we have proven, we provisionally suspended the athlete, disqualified the results, found a violation, and issued an announcement as required by the rules."

Tygart added:

"Transparency is the key to shining the light in the darkness, and here, by not following the rules, WADA and CHINADA have left clean athletes in the dark." (via USADA)

If the Chinese women's team gets disqualified, the 21-time World Championship gold medalist Ledecky and her relay team members will be awarded the gold medal.

However, WADA has called out the media coverage of the doping case as misleading and defamatory. Gunter Younger, WADA Director, Intelligence and Investigations, said they had followed all due process:

"Diligently investigated every lead and line of enquiry in this matter." (via WADA)

Tygart explained that the behavior of the Chinese authorities had not suggested any wrongdoing:

"For us, (the question was) why should they test them and report them positive knowing that will cause lots of problems for them later," he said. "All the things we discussed and the experience we have in our department, if we found any indication that something was wrong, we would go after t." (via The Guardian)

WADA stands by its scientific investigations and is confident of its independent intelligence.