One Team GB star has urged the authorities to do their jobs amid cheating allegations surrounding the Olympics.
On Sunday night, the swimming schedule at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games came to a close with China taking the gold in the men’s 4x100 medley relay and USA winning the women’s race.
The Team GB quartet of Oliver Morgan, Adam Peaty, Duncan Scott and Matt Richards came home in fourth place behind France, USA and China.
As per the BBC, two swimmers in China’s winning quartet, Qin Haiyang and Sun Jiajun reportedly returned positive doping tests prior to the Tokyo Olympics.
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However, the pair were not banned from competing as the China Anti-Doping Agency were adamant that they had ‘unintentionally ingested the substance because of contamination’.
Speaking after the race on Sunday night, Team GB star Peaty said: “If you touch and you know that you're cheating, you're not winning, right?
“I don't want to paint a whole nation or group of people with one brush, I think that's very unfair. To the people that need to do their job - wake up and do your job.”
He added: “I think we have to have faith in the system. But we also don’t. The Americans have been very vocal. We didn’t want to get distracted with that.
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“But I think it’s got to be stricter. What I’ve said from the start is that it’s fraud. If you’re cheating, it’s fraud.”
Peaty, 29, won silver in the 100m breaststroke, agonisingly failing to defend the crown he won in Rio and Tokyo.
When asked about his future, Peaty said: “I think tomorrow is never promised, so why worry? If my heart wants it, my heart wants it and I will absolutely sign that contract with myself to do it. But that may be a long way away.
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“I think I have got to step away from the sport because it has just hurt too much this time, it really has. It could have been my last one [swim] here.”
The Englishman continued: “If my family needs me, they need me. If they don't and they want me to do it... you can't lie to your heart and if the heart doesn't want it, the heart doesn't want it but I'm going to enjoy today instead of worrying about tomorrow.”
Marcus Chan