A second Chinese swimmer is denying the doping scandal that rocked the country in the lead-up to the 2024 Olympics.
After winning bronze in the men’s 200-meter individual medley on Friday, Wang Shun shut down the notion that he cheated while training for the Paris Olympics.
“Chinese swimmers only compete cleanly,” Wang said through a translator, according to the Associated Press. “That’s our goal.”
The 30-year-old swimmer claimed he was tested 28 times in May during the Olympic qualifiers.
“The two weeks before the Olympic Games, I was tested 11 times,” Wang added. “All these tests had proven my innocence.”
Wang’s comments come just days after Zhang Yufei, who won three bronze medals through Friday’s games, also rejected claims of steroid usage among Chinese athletes.
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“I don’t think there’s a single athlete, Chinese or foreign, who would test positive for doping. They would not want to destroy all the hard work they’ve put in over the years on doping,” Zhang told reporters last weekend.
The doping scandal has cast a shadow over the 2024 Olympics after an April report revealed that 23 Chinese athletes competed at the 2021 Olympics despite testing positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance.
Chinese officials have denied the allegations, calling the claims “false,” “misleading” and “defamatory.”
China, the World Anti-Doping Agency and World Aquatics found that there was widespread contamination in the tests, per Reuters.
That hasn’t stopped it from becoming a storyline at these Summer Games.
American swimming star Katie Ledecky said before the festivities in Paris that she hopes no athlete is cheating to gain an advantage.
“I hope everyone [in Paris] is going to be competing clean this week,” Ledecky said, per the New York Times. “But what really matters also is: Were they training clean? Hopefully, that’s been the case. Hopefully, there’s been even testing around the world.”
