- Sakamoto leads Japanese women's sweep at Skate Canada
- Sainz success shows his class as Ferrari rise above the radar
- Verstappen, Norris set for another duel
- Michelle Obama admits fear over vote result, slams Trump
- Sainz takes pole for Mexico City Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen
- Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps defend Skate Canada pairs title
- Lille score twice in stoppage-time to beat Lens after 'extraordinary' week
- Barca in 'flow' state after thrashing Madrid: Flick
- Curfew extended in French Caribbean territory amid power blackout
- Ruling party set to win Georgia election amid opposition protests
- Lille score twice deep in stoppage-time to beat Lens, Brest win
- NASA astronaut released from hospital after return from ISS
- Lewandowski double as Barca shred Madrid in La Liga Clasico
- Floods hit Saint-Tropez as rains lash south of France
- Japan votes with new PM on shaky ground
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- Di Lorenzo fires Napoli five points clear, Atalanta hit Verona for six
- Van Graan has 'utmost respect' for Du Toit as Bath go top of Premiership
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- Michelle Obama to boost Harris, as Trump rages against migrants
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- 'Too early' to say Leverkusen out of title race: Alonso
- World champion Malinin grabs men's lead at Skate Canada
- Farrell 'sorry' for second Top 14 yellow in Racing win
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- Lewis century gifts West Indies consolation victory in Sri Lanka
- Guardiola vows to learn from rock-bottom Southampton after tight win
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- Farrell opens Top 14 try account in Racing victory, ends game in sin-bin
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- Haaland fires Man City to top of Premier League, Villa held
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- Shelton downs friend Fils to reach Basel final
- Di Lorenzo fires Napoli past Lecce and five points clear
- Hussain says Pakistan have found 'kryptonite to Bazball' with England series win
- Seven dead in overnight Russian attacks on Ukraine
- Tehran presses on, uneasy after Israeli strikes
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- Santner heroics seal historic New Zealand Test series win in India
- Brignone wins ski World Cup opener as Shiffrin flops
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- Santner heroics seal New Zealand's first Test series win in India
China calls swimmer doping reports 'fake news'
Beijing on Monday called reports about 23 Chinese swimmers testing positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 "fake news".
The sport was rocked at the weekend by revelations that the swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) -- a prescription heart drug that is banned in athletes because it can enhance performance -- before the Games three years ago.
The swimmers were allowed to compete in Tokyo after world governing bodies accepted China's findings that they had ingested it unwittingly from food during a competition in late 2020 and early 2021.
Several went on to win medals, including gold, and many are in line to compete at the Paris Olympics this summer.
China's foreign ministry on Monday hit back at the widespread reports, which first emerged in the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD on Saturday and cited a review of confidential documents and emails.
"The relevant reports are fake news and not factual," said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.
World anti-doping agency WADA has said there was "a lack of any credible evidence" to challenge China's version of events.
"I believe you will also have noted that the World Anti-Doping Agency has put out a very clear response," Wang said.
However, the United States Anti-Doping Agency called news of the failed tests "crushing" and has blasted WADA's response as "a devastating stab in the back of clean athletes".
- 'Detailed' probe -
Wang said China's anti-doping centre conducted an "in-depth and detailed" probe into the incident, which found the athletes had ingested contaminated drugs "without their knowledge".
"The Chinese swimmers involved were neither at fault nor guilty of negligence, and their behaviour did not constitute a doping violation," he told a regular press conference in Beijing.
"After an investigation, WADA affirmed the findings of the China anti-doping centre."
An Australian coach who works with the Chinese Swimming Association also rejected claims of systemic state-run doping, saying it is "so far from anything I have seen".
Denis Cotterell, who has coached drug-tainted Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, told The Sydney Morning Herald he disputed "any suggestion of anything orchestrated".
"Am I confident that it's not dastardly? Not for one minute (do I believe that). I wouldn't be here (if it was)," Cotterell told the newspaper by phone from the pool deck of the Chinese Olympic trials in Shenzhen, in comments published Monday.
"I am happy to say I'm absolutely in support of my swimmers and dispute any suggestion of anything orchestrated," the 74-year-old said.
Cotterell, who has had an on-off association with Chinese swimming for more than a decade, said he was speaking from first-hand experience.
"I see what they (the swimmers) go through, I see the measures, I can tell you the stories. I know the facts and I am comfortable," he said.
"The suggestion that it's systemic is so far from anything I have seen here the whole time."
- Chequered history -
ARD aired a documentary on the subject Sunday, with the Montreal-based WADA issuing a fresh statement afterwards.
"The agency still stands firmly by the results of its scientific investigation and legal decision concerning the case," it said.
Wang said the Chinese government "consistently upholds a resolutely zero-tolerance position when it comes to doping", adding China upholds "fair competition" in sport.
Chinese swimming has a chequered doping history. Seven Chinese swimmers tested positive for steroids at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima.
In 1998, swimmer Yuan Yuan was banned after Australian customs officers discovered a large stash of human growth hormone in her bags at the world championships in Perth.
More recently, three-time Olympic champion Sun is just about to finish a second doping ban. His first, in 2014, was for taking TMZ.
burs-je/pst
P.Costa--AMWN