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Justice Department opens a criminal probe of the Chinese Olympic doping scandal
The Chinese and the Olympic flag wave during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The World Anti-Doping Agency cleared 23 Chinese swimmers of doping allegations despite positive tests for banned substances, allowing them to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Petr David Josek/AP
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Petr David Josek/AP
The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into a sports doping scandal involving nearly two dozen elite Chinese swimmers.
The Justice Department rarely comments on ongoing investigations, but two international sports organizations have confirmed to NPR that a criminal probe is underway.
In May, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers called for an investigation. “It is imperative to assess whether these alleged doping practices were state-sponsored,” they said in a statement.
Justice Department officials didn’t respond to NPR’s request for comment, but one focus of the probe appears to be on the World Anti-Doping Agency, known as WADA. The agency reviewed repeated positive tests for two banned substances by some elite Chinese swimmers over a period of years. But it kept results of the tests secret, and the athletes were allowed to compete in 2021 at the Tokyo Summer Games.
Chinese swimmers will compete in Paris
Eleven of those Chinese athletes have now qualified for China’s national team and are expected once again to swim head-to-head against U.S. athletes at the Paris Olympics.
World Aquatics, which governs international swimming competitions, said in a statement to NPR that its executive director, Brent Nowicki, has been subpoenaed “by the United States government” to testify in the case. “He is working to schedule a meeting with the government, which, in all likelihood will obviate the need for testimony before a grand jury,” said the World Aquatics statement.
WADA also issued a statement saying it handled the Chinese drug tests properly and was “disappointed” by the probe.
The organization, headquartered in Montreal, Canada, accused U.S. officials of exceeding their authority in the case. “The United States purports to exercise extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction over participants in the global anti-doping system,” said WADA’s statement.
News of the positive test results first became public in April of this year.
The revelations sparked international condemnation of WADA, Chinese authorities and their decision to keep the doping cases under wraps.
‘People are just getting away with everything’
WADA, meanwhile, says it chose to accept the Chinese government’s explanation that repeated positive tests for performance enhancing drugs by top swimmers were the result of accidental contamination.
U.S. drug testing experts and many American athletes have rejected those explanations.
Testifying last month before a U.S. House committee, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps called for major reforms to the international system designed to catch athletes who use drugs to cheat. “Right now people are just getting away with everything,” Phelps said. “How is that possible? It makes no sense.”
Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which monitors and penalizes American athletes if they cheat, testified that WADA has failed for years to properly punish Chinese and also Russian sports teams that regularly use performance-enhancing drugs.
“Russia and China have been too big to fail in [WADA’s] eyes and they get a different set of rules than the rest of the world does unfortunately,” Tygart said.
Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. The New York Times
A minor, 3.6-magnitude earthquake struck in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The temblor happened at 8:37 a.m. Pacific time about 1 mile southwest of Alamo, Calif., data from the agency shows.
As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.
Subsequent quakes have been reported in the same area. Such temblors are typically aftershocks caused by minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.
Aftershocks detected
Quakes and aftershocks within 100 miles
Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.
The New York Times
When quakes and aftershocks occurred
Sources: United States Geological Survey (epicenter, aftershocks, shake intensity); LandScan via Oak Ridge National Laboratory (population density) | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Pacific time. Shake data is as of Sunday, June 7 at 11:42 a.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Sunday, June 7 at 5:07 p.m. Eastern.
The Agnes Reynolds Jackson Arboretum is shown where multiple people were shot at a community festival Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Toledo, Ohio.
Paul Sancya/AP
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Paul Sancya/AP
Police still had no suspects in custody Sunday after a weekend shooting near an Ohio street festival wounded 12 people and sent attendees scrambling for cover in a busy Toledo neighborhood.
Toledo Deputy Police Chief Joe Heffernan said it appeared that at least two people fired weapons on Saturday near the Old West End Festival and were “probably shooting at each other.”
Authorities say a search for the the shooters was ongoing and had not identified any potential suspects. They urged festivalgoers to come forward with any photos or videos.
“As far as violence, this is over the top, right?” Toledo police Lt. Dan Gerken said. “Twelve people being shot, that’s the most I’ve been to a scene. I’ve been to a lot of scenes, but this is way over the top.”
Hundreds of people were at the festival, an annual two-day celebration in Toledo’s historic district that includes live music, food vendors, home tours and shopping.
The remainder of the festival was canceled Sunday. Organizers said “it would not be compassionate, responsible or possible to continue.”
“We are heartbroken about those that were injured at the Old West End Festival,” the festival said in a statement.
Two of the victims were in critical condition on Saturday, Heffernan said. The ages of the victims ranged from 14 to 61, with most of them in their early 20s.
Multiple videos posted to social media showed people running amid the sound of gunshots and emergency officials tending to others who appeared wounded.
Fire Chief Allison Armstrong said it was difficult to get to the hospital due to closed roads and traffic from people leaving the festival, but emergency responders were able to transport all patients from the scene within an hour.
Kevin Berry was sitting in the neighborhood arboretum listening to live music with friends when he heard a handful of gunshots ring out.
“Everybody hit the deck,” he said.
When Berry looked back up, he saw a gun being tossed to the ground less than 50 feet (15 meters) away from him. Officers who were already on site for the festival responded immediately.
Berry, who has medical training and served in the Navy, walked around looking for anyone who might need help and saw at least five people with gunshot wounds.
“The folks who were hit were spread out around the arboretum area,” he said.
George Kral, the city’s safety director, said the Old West End Festival is one of the most iconic festivals in Toledo.
“And it’s a shame that something like this had to ruin it,” Kral said.
A shooting near a community festival in Toledo, Ohio, wounded at least 12 people on Saturday, with police saying a search for the suspects was ongoing.
Two of the wounded were in a critical condition, Toledo deputy police chief Joe Heffernan said. He said it appeared there were at least two people firing weapons who were “probably shooting at each other”.
The Toledo police department said the shooting happened near the Old West End festival, an annual gathering of live music and home tours in a historic district of the city.
The department said an active search was under way for those responsible.
“I am deeply concerned about the situation in Toledo tonight,” Ohio governor Mike DeWine said in a statement. “Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence.”
Multiple videos posted to social media showed people running over the sound of gunshots and emergency officials tending to others who appeared wounded.
Kevin Berry said he was sitting in the neighbourhood arboretum listening to live music with his friends when he heard a handful of gunshots ring out.
“Everybody hit the deck,” he said.
When he looked back up, he saw a gun being tossed to the ground. Police officers who were already on-site for the festival immediately responded to the scene.
Berry, who has medical training and served in the US Navy, said he walked around the area looking for potential victims who might need help.
He said he saw at least five people with gunshot wounds.
“The folks who were hit were spread out around the arboretum area,” he said.
The Old West End festival is a two-day celebration in Toledo’s historic district that includes live music, food vendors, home tours and shopping.
“This tragedy is really weighing heavily on both the residents and those who visit and enjoy this festival year after year,” said city council member Theresa Morris.
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