The world’s #2-ranked tennis player Iga Świątek has been given a 1-month ban for trimetazidine (TMZ), the same substance that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for in the leadup to the 2021 Olympic Games.
Świątek, 23, failed an out-of-competition drug test in August. On Wednesday, she admitted the anti-doping rules violation and accepted the sanction. The ITIA accepted her explanation that the test was caused by contaminated nonprescription melatonin that she was taking for issues with jet lag and sleeping.
The ITIA said that her fault was “at the lowest end of the range for no significance fault or negligence.”
The suspension only has eight days remaining; she was provisionally suspended from September 12 to October 4 and missed three tournaments, and she will be cleared to return to play on Monday. She also forfeits $158,944 in earnings from the Cincinnati Open, where she lost in the semifinals in her first tournament after failing the test.
“In the last 2½ months, I was subject to strict ITIA proceedings, which confirmed my innocence,” Swiatek said in a social media post.. “The only positive doping test in my career, showing unbelievably low level of a banned substance I’ve never heard about before, put everything I’ve worked so hard for my entire life into question.
“Both me and my team had to deal with tremendous stress and anxiety. Now everything has been carefully explained, and with a clean slate I can go back to what I love most.”
TMZ was responsible for 23 Chinese swimmers testing positive in the run-up to the 2021 Olympics, which didn’t become public knowledge until earlier this year. The athletes were let off without sanctions after Chinese administrators blamed contaminated food.
That led to an escalating global war of words between doping administrators in the U.S. and the World Anti-Doping Association, with the latter threatening to pull accreditation from the U.S.
The melatonin pills she took were manufactured and sold in her native Poland. Trimetazidine is widely available for prescription in many countries, including Poland, though it is not prescribed in others, like the U.S.
While Świątek’s positive test has drawn many comparisons to the case of the Chinese swimmers, there are a couple of key differences. One is that Świątek was provisionally suspended after the test, and eventually given a punishment, which the Chinese athletes were not. The other is that Świątek was able to provide a batch of pills for testing to a laboratory outside of her home country, specifically the WADA-accredited SMRTL in Utah, USA, with independent verification from a different laboratory.
WADA, meanwhile, relied on CHINADA internal investigations that turned up TMZ contamination on spice containers, drains, and an exhaust fan, and relied on supporting circumstantial evidence (like a group of swimmers staying at another hotel) to support the findings.
The substance is also the one that led to the first doping suspension of Chinese Olympic gold medalist Sun Yang, though he said that he was provided the substance by his doctor.
Świątek won bronze in singles at the 2024 Olympics. She is a four-time French Open Champion and one-time U.S. Open Champion.
The fact that she was actually suspended is sketchy.
She says that she and her handlers had never heard of trimetazidine (TMZ] before? Really? Where was she during the Olympics when the Chinese swimming story broke–with her head buried in the sand?
Many, many great athletes bury their heads in the sand when it comes to sports news because they view it as a distraction.
Perhaps she does not follow SwimSwam?
I don’t want to trivialize it but taking the same substance in tennis compared to swimming is hardly the same offence. Drugs that increase your stamina will only get you so far in a skill-based sport.
Running from side to side in quick succession in matches that last around 90 minutes every couple of days potentially 8 times in a tournament while competing in 15 of those a year and you can’t see why maybe having more stamina could help with that?
Did you ever played tennis? You know you need to sprint back and fort right?
Sure. But there is a reason marathon runners aren’t the best at tennis.
In other words, taking a performance enhancer in an endurance/athleticism-based sport will give you a direct advantage. Taking the same substance if you are an athlete of a skill-based sport will only give you an indirect advantage, and won’t be good for anything if you don’t put in the work to improve and maintain your skills.
The Chinese made TMZ (and other substances) part of their regular regimen for their athletes.
Iga got punk’d by a tainted, otherwise neutral, product.
ITIA needs to be supervised outside of itself and by a non-tennis related entity.
The ITIA has been nothing short of inconsistent — and wildly inconsistent in their actions (i.e., Sinner’s debacle being shielded from the outside world as if they were protecting him, Halep’s career being destroyed by over-reaction + no actions taken for 2 years + unfair tactics; now Iga suspended for something not in her or her team’s control).
Perhaps ITIA could even be regulated by an outside entity?
No one:
Swimswam: 🛢🫗🔥
Anyway I’m here for it. I don’t exactly buy the excuse but regardless I would want to see some study and collection of data towards whether there really is such a widespread problem of cross contamination in the supplements industry more for myself than anything. Heart medication in melatonin is ridiculous, but also we live in a world where it’s quite believable something like that COULD happen for a multitude of reasons all of which absolutely maddening.
Shoulda eaten at that Chinese hotel. Apparently the excuse is legit!
Tennis players are likely tested more frequently than athletes in other sports due to their nearly year-round competition schedule, with tournaments taking place almost every week for 11 months.
Lol. They’re notoriously lacks on testing.
Rafa used the same doctor in Spain as Lance Armstrong early in his career, fool me once.
Tennis isn’t controlled by Chinese money like World Aquatics