An Olympic swimming champion who was one of 23 Chinese athletes who tested positive for a banned substance before the last Summer Olympics said on Saturday that they had been wrongly accused of doping and insisted that China would never allow any athlete to use performance-enhancing drugs.
The remarks by the swimmer, Zhang Yufei, were the first public comments by a member of the Chinese swimming team at the center of the doping scandal, which has brought anger, accusations and resentment to the Paris Olympics, the sport’s grandest stage.
“I don’t think any athlete, Chinese or non-Chinese, would want to destroy the work they built up every day over the years on doping,” Zhang said at the Olympic pool after a fast swim in a morning race on the opening day of the swimming competition.