Since a spate of doping cases in the 1990s and a four-year ban handed out to triple Olympic champion Sun Yang, Chinese swimmers have struggled to escape the shadow of suspicion — and concern this will only bring them added scrutiny in Tokyo, former Olympians have said.
The ban dished out to Sun, the pride of Chinese swimming, is fodder to those who had long harbored suspicions about the country's program due to its patchy doping record.
China's swimming program has seen its reputation tarnished by a series of scandals, most notably when one female swimmer was caught with 13 vials of human growth hormone at Sydney airport ahead of the 1998 world championships in Perth.