- 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
- Herve Renard completes surprise return as Saudi coach
- 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
- Report details fossil fuel threat to 'Amazon of the seas'
- Michelle Obama to boost Harris, as Trump rages against migrants
- Catholic Church assembly acknowledges 'obstacles' for women
- '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
- Ruling party set to win Georgian elections
- Piastri, Norris set Mexico practice pace as Verstappen struggles
- Lewis century gifts West Indies consolation victory in Sri Lanka
- Guardiola vows to learn from rock-bottom Southampton after tight win
- Rooney 'angry' despite stunning Plymouth fightback in Preston draw
- Opposition, ruling party both shown ahead in Georgia elections
- Venezuelan prosecutor accuses Lula of faking injury as tensions with Brazil rise
- Draper into Vienna ATP final, ensures career-high ranking
- Farrell opens Top 14 try account in Racing victory, ends game in sin-bin
- Opposition tipped to win narrow majority in Georgia election: exit poll
- Haaland fires Man City to top of Premier League, Villa held
- West Indies set 195 to win rain-hit Sri Lanka ODI
- Leipzig beat Freiburg to go top, Dortmund lose away again
- 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
- Masood says Pakistan need stability after famous England win
- Iran warns will defend itself after Israeli strikes
- N.Korea involvement in Ukraine raises regional security risks: analysts
- Santner heroics seal historic New Zealand Test series win in India
- Brignone wins ski World Cup opener as Shiffrin flops
- Thitikul surges into three-way lead at LPGA in Malaysia
- Israel hits Iran military sites in retaliatory strikes
- Santner heroics seal New Zealand's first Test series win in India
- Activists say 50 killed in Sudan paramilitary attack
- Stokes says Pakistan spin duo just too good after series defeat
- Zheng to face injury doubt Kenin in Tokyo final
- Final-hole eagle puts Echavarria in driving seat in Japan
- Commonwealth agrees 'time has come' for talks on legacy of slavery
What we know about Chinese swimming doping revelations
Twenty-three Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance just months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but were still allowed to compete.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and other world bodies accepted China's findings that the swimmers had ingested the drug unwittingly in the lead-up to the pandemic-delayed Games.
With the Paris Olympics now just three months away, and some of those same swimmers set to feature prominently, here is what we know so far about a case that has rocked sport:
- What was the drug? -
The swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ). It is a prescription heart medication but is banned for athletes because it can enhance performance.
In 2014, China's three-time Olympic gold medallist swimmer Sun Yang served the first of his two doping bans after failing a test for TMZ.
That positive test and ban did not emerge until after Sun had served his three-month suspension.
TMZ was also among the cocktail of medication found in Kamila Valieva's system. The teenage Olympic figure skater from Russia was banned in January for four years.
She claimed the cause of her positive test could have been a strawberry dessert made by her grandfather on a board he also used to crush pills that he was taking after receiving an artificial heart.
- How did it come to light? -
This is one of the major bones of contention.
Rather than any contemporaneous official disclosure, the revelations emerged at the weekend from The New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD, which has a track record of similar reporting on doping cases.
The Times cited a review of confidential documents and emails, including a report compiled by CHINADA, the Chinese anti-doping agency, which was submitted to its global counterpart, WADA.
WADA never made the information public.
"Why not release this information at the time, who really benefits from the lack of transparency and secrecy?" Adam Peaty, Britain's triple Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, wrote on social media.
- How did TMZ get into the swimmers? -
This is one of the biggest questions.
According to China, traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying for a domestic competition in late 2020 to early 2021.
CHINADA said the swimmers tested positive for an "extremely low concentration" of TMZ and it reported its findings to WADA.
At the time the country's borders were effectively sealed off because of China's strict pandemic policies, making any kind of independent on-ground assessment impossible.
- What has the reaction been? -
CHINADA has threatened legal action against foreign media over their reports and the Beijing government has called the international coverage "fake news".
Overseas condemnation, some of it furious, has been led by Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
The case has given rise to questions over why the failed tests only emerged now, and via the media, and why the swimmers were not at least immediately suspended.
Tygart called WADA's actions "a devastating stab in the back of clean athletes" and said he had provided WADA with allegations of doping in Chinese swimming multiple times since 2020.
In response, WADA has accused Tygart of playing politics and rejected accusations of a cover-up.
WADA president Witold Banka said the organisation "followed the whole due process and diligently investigated every line of enquiry in this matter".
WADA had "no credible way to disprove the contamination theory", he said.
- What happens next? -
The damaging controversy looks set to run and run, especially with the Paris Olympics coming up fast and China expected to be among the medals in swimming.
WADA and China have both doubled down on their positions, and Beijing will likely now batten down the hatches.
WADA has also suggested that it could take legal action against USADA.
China's swimmers are currently safely tucked away for their Olympic trials at home, but they will go in front of the full glare of the world media at the Olympics and are sure to face some difficult questions.
O.Johnson--AMWN