Nat Barr and Sunrise experts make stunning claim about doped-up Chinese swimmers after country tried to blame Australia for failed drug tests

Broadcaster Neil Mitchell has claimed China's Olympic swimming campaigns are 'based around cheating' after the country blamed the detection of steroids in two of its swimmers on Australian beef imports. 

The pair tested positive for a performing-enhancing drug in 2022 but the results weren't made public and they were later cleared when China's anti-doping agency concluded the drug was most likely consumed through contaminated hamburgers made using Australian beef.

'They're protecting them. The Chinese system is designed around cheating... There were 23 [competitors] at Tokyo and 11 here [in Paris] under suspicion,' Mitchell told Sunrise's Nat Barr on Thursday, after the host said 'this feels like the Chinese are treated differently' when it comes to drugs in sport.

The panel discussion came just after Kyle Chalmers was beaten in the 100m freestyle by Chinese star Pan Zhanle, who broke his own world record to win gold as he came in an incredible one second ahead of the Aussie. 

Western Sydney Women founder Amanda Rose, also on the panel, said it appeared the rules around banned substances are not applied equally to all countries competing in the Olympics.

'I don't know if this is a deflection technique like ''Hey, we've been caught out, let's blame the Aussies'' because we're a smaller country.

'It seems one country gets tested and they might get let off and other countries get a harsher punishment... I think testing when it comes to athletes in the Olympic Games needs to be streamlined and maybe audited.'

Mitchell agreed, pointing out the case of Aussie swimmer Shayna Jack, who tested positive for the anabolic agent Ligandrol through an out-of-competition test by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority in 2019.

'She got banned. Her results were made public and she couldn't compete for two years. This feels like the Chinese are treated differently,' he said.

Mitchell said: 'We've known for 50 years this sort of thing's going on... being naïve and eating something and not knowing you're taking the drug isn't an excuse.

'I might whip down to McDonald's and have a quarter pounder for breakfast. It might be a way to get me jumping around a bit.'

He added that the 'real question' was whether any other athletes at the Paris Games would feel happy to share a podium with Chinese swimmers.

'Do they do a Mac Horton? Do they make a statement and don't get onto the onto the podium to share it with a drug cheat?

'It damages their moment, but I'd like to see a fair dinkum protest by the rest of the athletes who are being dudded.'

Back in 2019, Horton received a standing ovation at the athletes' village after protesting against controversial Chinese star Sun Yang's 400m freestyle win at the world swimming titles. 

Olympic champion Horton did not shake hands with his bitter rival after being relegated to silver in the 400m freestyle and refused to join him on the podium on the titles' opening night at Gwangju, South Korea.

Horton was unhappy that Sun, who already served a 2014 doping ban, had been allowed to compete ahead of a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing.

The hearing was over accusations that the 10-time world champion smashed a container holding vials of his blood with a hammer during a clash with testers.

He was later banned from competing for four years and three months over the incident. 

American breaststroke champion Lilly King later revealed Horton was greeted with applause from fellow competitors when he returned from the pool after refusing to acknowledge Sun.

The latest claims about the two Chinese swimmers testing positive for a hardcore steroid in 2022, one of whom is in China's team in Paris, were reported in the New York Times.

The publication claimed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had reservations about the contaminated hamburger theory but chose not to appeal China's decision not to impose bans on the swimmers

'The politicization of Chinese swimming continues with this latest attempt by the media in the United States to imply wrongdoing on the part of WADA and the broader anti-doping community,' WADA said in a lengthy statement Tuesday.

'As we have seen over recent months, WADA has been unfairly caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions between superpowers but has no mandate to participate in that.'

Meat and Livestock Australia have said the substance, metendienone, is not used in the industry.