Britain's triple Olympic gold medallist Adam Peaty called for stricter testing for doping after China won the final men's swimming race of the Paris Olympics, telling FRANCE 24 that the lack of transparency was undermining faith in the sport.
The Chinese swim team has been under intense scrutiny since revelations in April that 23 of the country's swimmers tested positive for a banned heart medication before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but were allowed to compete.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the findings of a Chinese investigation that the results were due to contamination from a hotel kitchen, and an independent review backed WADA's handling of the case.
The New York Times also reported last week that two of the country's swimmers tested positive in 2022 for a banned steroid, also blamed on contaminated food, but had provisional suspensions lifted.
China's anti-doping agency (CHINADA) has since accused the US newspaper of politicising doping issues and said the publication was trying to "affect the psychology" of Chinese athletes at the Olympics.
"The lack of transparency is very disappointing, firstly from WADA. It's very suspicious," Peaty told FRANCE 24 on Monday.
"I know how hard it is for an athlete who plays fair and true to do this sport, and I don't want to leave it in a place where people are getting away with it," added the Briton, who narrowly missed out in his bid for a third successive 100 metres breaststroke gold when he took the silver in Paris.
Peaty said that he did not want to paint a whole nation or group of people with one brush but that the two reported cases were very disappointing.
"They should be held accountable," he said. "Because not only is it fraud for the people who are racing, but it's also fraud for those who are watching."
China ended the meet fifth in the medals table with 12 medals but only two golds, compared with 28 medals for the United States including eight golds. Australia, France and Canada were all ahead of China on golds won.
Britain took only five medals and one gold, the men's 4x200 freestyle relay. China finished fourth in that race.
Nine-times gold medallist Caeleb Dressel, on the US team that took silver behind China in Sunday's relay, was more guarded in his comments.
"We have to put our trust in WADA," he said when asked if he felt he was racing against clean opponents.
"There's a lot of stuff you can say in interviews that's just going to light you up, so it's a no-win situation for me... They were the better team, and it's as simple as that."
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
