Olympic swimming: Adam Peaty questions China’s relay win amid doping allegations

Details of the China case were first made public by the New York Times in April, which shared reporting with German broadcaster ARD. The positive tests in 2021 were not made public at the time.

The World Anti-doping Agency (Wada) said it was “not in a position to disprove” the conclusion made by the Chinada and opted not to appeal after consulting independent experts as well as external legal counsel.

An independent report has since found Wada did not show bias in its handling of the case and Chinese athletes were drug tested up to twice as much as other athletes in the run up to the Paris Games.

In its initial report, the New York Times also said Qin, who won three breaststroke titles at the World Championships last year, had previously tested positive for another substance.

Although it did not name Qin, 25, specifically, Wada said the levels were below the current threshold for reporting and came from eating contaminated meat.

Peaty, 29, added: “One of my favourite quotes I’ve seen lately is that there’s no point winning if you’re not winning fair.

“I think you know that truth in your heart.

“For me, if you’ve been on that and you have been contaminated twice, I think as an honourable person you should be out of the sport. But we know sport isn’t that simple.”

Following the allegations, the row spread as the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) chief executive Travis Tygart suggested a cover-up – a claim Wada rejected as “completely false and defamatory”.

A criminal investigation is under way in the US over the issue, while a different report into World Aquatics’ handling of the case also found there was no mismanagement or cover-up.

“We have to have faith in the system but we also don’t,” said Peaty, who lined up with Ollie Morgan, Duncan Scott and Matt Richards.

“The Americans have been very vocal. We didn’t want to get distracted with that.

“But I think it’s got to be stricter. What I’ve said from the start is that it’s fraud. If you’re cheating, it’s fraud.”