Skip to main content

Doping in Sports

US federal investigation opens into 2021 Chinese doping cases in run-up to Olympics

Weeks before the Paris Olympics, World Aquatics confirms a US criminal investigation is underway into the cases of 23 Chinese swimmers who failed doping tests in 2021 but were allowed to continue competing. 
A person unfurls a large Chinese flag at a stadium, many photographers are seen in the background

'We ride on dynamite': A century on from the Tour de France's first doping scandal

In a small cafe in a nondescript French village during the 1924 Tour de France, a journalist fell upon the biggest scoop in cycling, when three Tour riders revealed what they were carrying in their bags to get them through the most daunting of races.
Henri Pelissier stands in a crowd

'We can only control what we can control': Rohan Taylor after latest Chinese drug claims

Head coach Rohan Taylor says Australia's Olympic swimmers have to trust WADA and that his team "can only control what we can control" after another alleged positive test is reported.
Rohan Taylor talks to the media

analysis:The Giro d'Italia's uncomfortable obsession with its favourite, fallen son

The ghost of Marco Pantani has been everywhere during the first week of the Giro d'Italia, raising uncomfortable questions over his tainted legacy.
Marco Pantani rides in the mist

'WADA's reputation is under attack': Independent review to look into handling of Chinese swimmers' positive doping tests

An investigation led by a Swiss prosecutor will look into how the World Anti-Doping Agency handled positive doping tests of 23 Chinese swimmers in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games. 
Updated
The Chinese flag waves in front of a flag with the Olympic rings on it.

WADA accused of cover-up of Olympic doping

The World Anti-Doping Agency is standing by a ruling that over 20 Chinese swimmers who tested positive to a banned substance are not guilty of doping.
Updated
Cover-Up Allegations, Tokyo Olympics: A Chinese flag is held up as photographers take pictures in the background.
Duration: 2 minutes 7 seconds

WADA accepts Chinese swimmers tested positive to banned substance due to contaminated kitchen

The World Anti-Doping Agency says it stands firmly by its investigation into the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive to the same banned substance, as questions are raised over claims of food contamination.
Updated
A Chinese flag is held up poolside by unidentifiable members of Team China

Chinese swimming doping case sparks spat between global and US anti-doping agencies

Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished has sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency and the head of the US anti-doping organisation.
A person unfurls a large Chinese flag at a stadium, many photographers are seen in the background

World Anti-Doping Agency accused of complicity in Chinese doping scandal

The body has confirmed 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance and chose not to intervene.
Updated
Positive Results, Chinese Swimmers: A cleaner in an acquatic centre.
Duration: 8 minutes 53 seconds

WADA confirms 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive before Tokyo Games, accepted contamination finding

Multiple media reports said the swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine, months before the COVID-delayed Games began in July 2021.
The flags of China and the International Olympic Committee flying on a flagpole

The AFL's illicit drug policy explained

Tom Maddocks breaks down the AFL's anti-doping and illicit drug policies, and the consequences for breaking them.
ABC News Current
Duration: 1 minute 32 seconds

Former world number one's 'nightmare' is over after appeal against doping ban is upheld

Former world number one Simona Halep can return to tennis after her appeal to the Court of Arbitration to Sport is partially upheld, finding she likely consumed a banned substance unintentionally.
Updated
Tennis player Simona Halep clenches her fist during a match at Wimbledon. She wears a white dress and visor.

Halep sues supplements company she claims caused doping ban

Former world number one tennis player Simona Halep sues the Canadian company that produced a nutritional supplement she believes led to her being handed a potentially career-ending four-year doping ban.
Simona Halep speaks to a crowd of media outside the Court of Arbitration for Sport

Australia's anti-doping chief issues grave warning over 'grossly irresponsible' Enhanced Games

Australian sport's anti-doping chief slams an Olympic-style event with no drug testing as "grossly irresponsible" and warns of severe ramifications for athletes taking part.
Updated
Australian swimmer James Magnussen shirtless after a race at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Simona Halep is banned from tennis for four years — and Serena Williams wants a 24th major title as a result

Simona Halep is banned for four years after an independent panel found it was "likely" she was guilty of doping, with Serena Williams suggesting the Romanian's previous results should also be investigated. 
Serena Williams stands in front of Simona Halep

France World Cup winner suspended after positive doping result

France and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, who won the World Cup in 2018, tests positive for testosterone, set for four year suspension.
Paul Pogba looks at the ball

Former British Cycling, Team Sky doctor banned for four years for breaking anti-doping rules

A former team doctor for Britain's cycling team and professional outfit Team Sky has received a four-year ban for violating anti-doping rules early last decade. 
A man in a cycling team shirt stands facing a camera with his hands behind his back.

Australian cyclist Rob Stannard provisionally suspended over anti-doping violation

Aussie cyclist Rob Stannard denies taking a banned substance after being suspended for an anti-doping rule violation that ends his world championship hopes.
Updated
An Australian professional cyclist in team gear on the road looking straight into the camera.

Olympian Peter Bol cleared following investigation into doping result

Australian 800-metre runner Peter Bol has been cleared of doping by Sport Integrity Australia in what he described as "a dream come true".
Updated
Australian runner Peter Bol smiles as he talks with Kenyan 800m champion Wyclife Kinyamal after a race.

Caster Semenya wins appeal to European Court of Human Rights over World Athletics' testosterone regulations

The ruling could force sport's highest court to re-examine the regulations that force Semenya and other female athletes to artificially reduce naturally high testosterone levels.
A black female athlete smiles as she holds up the South African flag behind her at a night-time athletics event.

More Australians are using medicinal cannabis than ever before. Is it effective for pain, and is it legal to take?

Lauren Jackson was granted an exemption to take medicinal cannabis when she made a fairytale comeback to basketball. But its use — both within and outside sport — remains stigmatised while Australia's laws are difficult to understand and navigate.
Composite image of Lauren Jackson, basketball and marijuana plants

Doping in eSports preventing inclusion at Olympics

Dr Mark Johnson says it's unclear whether stimulants like adderall provide an advantage, but testing will add a legitimacy for gaming.
ABC News Current
Duration: 4 minutes

Education first but drug-testing in gamers' future, says WADA

Esports are in the mix for Commonwealth Games and Olympics inclusion, but the lack of a regulatory body for drug testing is an obstacle. Now a WADA program will inform and warn gamers of the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs. 
Photo of two hands typing at a multi-coloured gaming keyboard.

Tennis champion Simona Halep claims she is a 'victim of contamination' after second doping charge emerges

The International Tennis Integrity Agency levels a new doping charge at the two-time grand slam champion based on an expert assessment of her athlete biological passport.
Simona Halep winds up to hit a two-handed backhand at the US Open.

More than 200 Russian athletes sanctioned following WADA's 'Operation LIMS' doping investigation

The World Anti-Doping Agency updates the success of its investigation into the infamous Moscow laboratory at the centre of institutionalised Russian doping, saying 200-plus athletes have been sanctioned from data collected.   
Updated
A close-up shot of the wall of an office, with the sign "World Anti-Doping Agency"