The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) found itself in more deep hot water today when it was revealed that two more Chinese swimmers were cleared of positive tests for a banned steroid because the substance might have been in a couple of burgers the athletes ate days before. 

On the back of five incidents since 2016 in which Chinese swimmers have tested positive for banned substances but been cleared on grounds of contamination, - including the cases of 23 Chinese swimmers caught with heart boosted trimetazidine in their bodies in January 2021 - the latest twist in the crisis drew more blistering criticism from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).

"China seemingly has the playbook to compete under a different set of rules tilting the field in their favour," said Usada CEO Travis Tygart. "The failed leadership of the anti-doping system has allowed one country special treatment at the very time we should all be united behind the Olympic values of fair play and respect for all fellow competitors."

The mounting number of cases have further sunk trust in Wada and the anti-doping system to what American swim legend Katie Ledecky described as "an all-time low".

It was October 2022 when Olympic champion Tang Muhan, who will defend the 4x200m freestyle title with China teammates on Thursday here in Paris, and male swimmer He Junyi are said to have left their national-team training camp in Beijing to go for a burger and chips at a local fast-food outlet.

Anti-doping tests taken days later showed traces of methandienone (also known as Dianabol, or D-bol), a common cause of steroid positives that have resulted in heavy suspensions for many athletes around the world. The positives were reported to Wada in November 2022 and the case file marked "confidential" as provisional suspensions were imposed on both swimmers. 

Neither appeared in competition again until 2024, after national clean-sport agency Chinada had taken the decision that the burgers were to blame.