Olympic Swimmers From China Are Blaming Hotel Hamburgers For Positive Steroid Test

Doping has been the dark cloud over Olympic organizations for years. Ever since the 2014 Sochi Olympics, when Russian athletes were revealed to be part of a massive state-sponsored doping program, national and international anti-doping associations have sprouted up to prevent steroid usage from tainting the world of prestige sports.

One continued subject of scrutiny has been China, whose Olympic athletes have faced several doping accusations over the past few years. The most recent involved drug tests taken in 2022, in which two prominent Chinese swimmers tested positive for trace amounts of the anabolic steroid metandienone. Though these results and the inquiries that followed remained largely under wraps until this week, the report concluded that the source was likely contamination. 

More specifically, the Chinese Olympians claim that they unintentionally consumed the steroids via hamburgers. Chinese authorities conducted an investigation after the positive drug tests, eventually blaming food served at a hotel restaurant. But the exact location was not specified, and not everyone is 100% sold on this explanation.

This doping scandal comes on the heels of a similar case from 2021, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, when 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the performance enhancing drug trimetazidine (TMZ). Food contamination was also blamed in this instance. Eleven of the Chinese athletes who tested positive for steroids in 2021 are currently representing their country in swimming competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Neither the International Testing Agency nor the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) contested the results of China's investigation into the most recent scandal. The International Olympic Committee has also put its support behind WADA in this matter, but U.S. officials are planning their own investigation into the doping accusations.

So, could a burger really be responsible for such a ruckus? Technically, yes. Anabolic steroids are often used to bulk up livestock across many countries, including China. Drinking water can contain hazardous chemicals, and medications or other commonly ingested substances can also contain trace levels of drugs like TMZ. But without proof of a direct point of contamination (unlike these Trader Joe's cashews), things start to get a little fuzzy.