Team USA swimming star Katie Ledecky, who has more individual Olympic gold medals than any other woman swimmer in history, reacted to a recent report of Chinese swimmers having tested positive for controlled substances before the 2021 Tokyo Games, telling "CBS Sunday Morning" that she hopes for "some accountability."
In April, The New York Times reported 23 Chinese swimmers, including two who competed directly against Ledecky and her teammates, had tested positive for a banned substance just seven months before the Tokyo Games.
Chinese officials say the swimmers inadvertently ate contaminated food. The World Anti-Doping Agency reportedly declined to take action, even though it appears its own rules should have prohibited those swimmers from competing.
In an interview with correspondent Elaine Quijano to be broadcast on "CBS Sunday Morning" and streamed on Paramount+ June 2, Ledecky said, "In this instance, it doesn't seem like everything was followed to a T. So, I'd like to see some accountability here. I'd like to see some answers as to why this happened the way it did. And I'd really like to see that steps are taken for the future so that we can regain some confidence in the global system."
Asked whether she believes the results of the 2021 Games need to be reexamined or rescinded, Ledecky replied, "I mean, I think the whole case has to be reexamined independently and thoroughly and all the information needs to be out there."
Ledecky (whose new book, "Just Add Water: My Swimming Life," will be published June 11) won her first Olympic gold at age 15, and has earned seven gold and three silver medals, from the London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Games. She is currently preparing to compete in the Paris Olympic Games, which begin in July.
"It's hard going into Paris knowing that we're gonna be racing some of these athletes," she said. "And I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low. You try not to think too much about when you're actually racing. And the best thing to do is to just go out there and try to win.
"It's tough when you have in the back of your head that it's not necessarily an even playing field," she said.
Watch a preview of Katie Ledecky's interview by clicking on the video above.
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For more info:
- "Just Add Water: My Swimming Life" by Katie Ledeky (Simon & Schuster), in Hardcover, Large Print, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
- Team USA: Kate Ledecky
- Follow Kate Ledecky on Instagram and Twitter/X
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