News that three of the Chinese swimmers who tested positive to TMZ before the Tokyo Games had also returned positive tests for clenbuterol years earlier made for an uneasy backdrop in Brisbane.
It felt remarkably appropriate that Mack Horton made an appearance at the Australian Olympic trials on Saturday. The retired Olympic gold medallist’s presence at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre during the week’s last heats session was brief and low-key, and would have flown under the radar if not for his Instagram story promoting Zac Stubblety-Cook’s pop-up coffee shop.
Then it confirmed the three swimmers named had indeed tested positive for “trace amounts” of clenbuterol, known for its ability to increase lean muscle mass and reduce body fat, in 2016 and 2017 through “meat contamination”. It then detailed in great depth the way clenbuterol is “used in some countries as a growth promoter for farm animals and, under specific circumstances, can result in a positive sample from an athlete who consumes meat from animals treated in that way”.
The effect at the trials on Saturday was both collective and individual. The news hung in the chlorinated air, an uneasy backdrop to every result and post-race interview. It was the undercurrent to what was said – and what was not said. These are athletes who, for their whole lives, have been told they are completely and absolutely responsible for everything that ends up in their bodies.
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