Anti-doping agents were unable to locate France’s star swimmer, Leon Marchand, for a doping test earlier this week, but it wasn’t due to any fault of his own, according to L’Équipe.
The drug testing agents arrived at the Olympic Village on Monday morning, July 29, at 5:45 AM, with the intention of testing Marchand. However, he was not present as he had received permission from the French Swimming Federation to stay outside the village for better sleeping conditions before his upcoming 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly events scheduled for Tuesday.
Marchand had no swimming events on Monday and had been up late the previous night for media engagements and drug testing following his gold medal win in the men’s 400m IM. The missed test will not impact Marchand’s record because he and his team had correctly updated his whereabouts in the ADAMS system, and the error was on the part of the drug testers.
This incident highlights ongoing issues within the anti-doping system. For example, at least one Chinese swimmer has publicly criticized drug testers for disrupting his sleep leading up to the Games. In Marchand’s case, he was subjected to drug testing around midnight after winning gold and then again within a six-hour period.
Additionally, the testers also disturbed other swimmers sharing an apartment with Marchand, including Yohann Ndoye Brouard, who was competing in the 100m backstroke final that day.
Athletes in the WADA drug testing pool are required to provide a 60-minute time slot for testing year-round, but there have been growing concerns from athletes about testers arriving outside these designated windows.
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