Chinese doping on their mind, US athletes send letter to America's drug czar asking for answers

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Two key American athlete groups sent a letter to the country's drug czar calling for a "truly independent" investigation of the case that led to 23 Chinese swimmers not being sanctioned despite testing positive for a banned heart medication.

The USA Swimming Athletes' Advisory Council and the Team USA Athletes' Commission sent the letter Monday to Rahul Gupta, the director of the federal government's Office of National Drug Control Policy.

WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY SAYS WHY CHINESE SWIMMERS WERE CLEARED DESPITE POSITIVE TESTS FOR BANNED SUBSTANCE

Gupta is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's executive committee and is expected to take part in a special meeting Tuesday with other government officials in the Americas to discuss the doping case.

The Chinese and the Olympic flag wave during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. In the two years before the World Anti-Doping Agency cleared 23 Chinese swimmers of doping allegations, that country’s government contributed nearly $2 million in additional funding to WADA programs, including one designed to strengthen the agency’s investigations and intelligence unit.  (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

His role is important because governments fund half of WADA's annual budget; the U.S. has held up payments in the past when it felt WADA wasn't following through on its mission.

"As athletes, we have to trust WADA to set and enforce standards that will ensure fair play and protect our rights," the athletes wrote to Gupta. "WADA’s failure to follow its own rules and procedures in the wake of the positive tests of these 23 Chinese athletes has broken this trust."

WADA has