The World Anti-Doping Agency on Thursday appointed a special prosecutor to review how 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned drug were allowed to avoid public scrutiny and compete at the 2021 Olympics, where they won gold medals and set records.

世界反兴奋剂组织(WADA)周四任命了一名特别检察官，负责审查23名违禁药物检测呈阳性的中国游泳运动员是如何得以避免公众监督并参加2021年奥运会的，他们在这次奥运会上赢得数枚金牌并打破多个纪录。

The decision to appoint the special prosecutor, Eric Cottier of Switzerland, came amid an outcry from top government officials, antidoping experts and authorities, and athletes over the way Chinese antidoping officials and the global regulator, known as WADA, handled the positives.

在政府高级官员、反兴奋剂专家和权威人士以及运动员对中国反兴奋剂官员和WADA的处理方式提出强烈抗议之际，该机构决定任命来自瑞士的埃里克·科蒂尔为特别检察官。

WADA cast the move as one it had to make in response to “the damaging and baseless allegations that are being leveled” against the agency since The New York Times on Saturday revealed how the Chinese antidoping agency, known as Chinada, and WADA declined to discipline or identify the 23 swimmers.

WADA表示，此举是为了回应针对该机构的“破坏性且毫无根据的指控”。此前，《纽约时报》于周六披露中国反兴奋剂中心和WADA拒绝采取处罚措施，或公布这23名游泳选手的身份。

“WADA’s integrity and reputation is under attack,” the WADA president, Witold Banka, said in a statement. “In the past few days, WADA has been unfairly accused of bias in favor of China by not appealing the Chinada case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We continue to reject the false accusations and we are pleased to be able to put these questions into the hands of an experienced, respected and independent prosecutor.”

“WADA的诚信和声誉受到了攻击，”该机构主席维托尔德·班卡在一份声明中表示。“过去几天，WADA因未向体育仲裁庭就中国反兴奋剂中心一案提出上诉而被不公平地指责为偏袒中国。我们继续否认这些虚假指控，我们很高兴能够将这些问题交给经验丰富、受人尊敬的独立检察官。”

As part of the review, WADA said on Thursday, Mr. Cottier — who was the attorney general of a canton in Switzerland for 17 years before he stepped down in 2022 — will be given “full and unfettered access to all of WADA’s files and documents related to this matter.”

WADA周四表示，作为审查的一部分，科蒂尔——在2022年卸任之前，他在瑞士某州任总检察长17年——将被授予“完全且不受限制地查阅WADA所有与此事有关的档案及文件权限”。

世界反兴奋剂组织主席维托尔德·班卡在一份声明中表示：“世界反兴奋剂机构的诚信和声誉受到了攻击。”

Among the questions WADA has tasked Mr. Cottier with answering is whether the decision by Chinada to clear the athletes of doping, and WADA’s decision not to intervene, was “a reasonable one.” WADA also asked the prosecutor to examine if China received preferential treatment from WADA.

WADA要求科蒂尔予以厘清的其中一个问题是，中国反兴奋剂中心为运动员洗清禁药嫌疑，以及WADA不干预的决定是否“合理”。WADA还要求他对中国是否受到WADA优待进行调查。

The announcement came three days after Mr. Banka and other top WADA officials defended the organization’s handling of the China case.

三天前，班卡和其他WADA高级官员为该机构处理中国此案的方式进行了辩护。

“If we had to do it over again now,” Mr. Banka declared on Monday, “we would do exactly the same thing.”

“如果我们现在必须重来一次，”班卡周一宣称。“我们也会做同样的事情。”

That same day, the Biden administration’s top drug official, who is also a member of WADA’s executive board, called for an independent investigator and said that he planned to raise the issue at a meeting of sports ministers and antidoping officials in Washington on Thursday and Friday.

同一天，拜登政府最高缉毒官员、WADA执行委员会成员呼吁引入一名独立调查员，并表示他计划在周四和周五于华盛顿举行的体育部长和反兴奋剂官员会议上提出这一问题。

The official, Rahul Gupta, who is the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on Thursday praised the appointment of the special prosecutor.

国家毒品管制政策办公室主任拉胡尔·古普塔周四对特别检察官的任命表示赞赏。

“Today’s announcement is an important first step in addressing the recent doping allegations,” Dr. Gupta said. “Every athlete in America and around the world deserves competition that is transparent, fair, and free from doping. International antidoping authorities have a duty to assure that all athletes have a level playing field and confidence in the system established to preserve and promote clean sport.”

“今天的声明是解决最近兴奋剂指控的重要第一步，”古普塔博士说。“美国和全世界的每一位运动员都应该得到透明、公平、没有使用兴奋剂的比赛。国际反兴奋剂机构有责任确保所有运动员都拥有公平的竞争环境，并对为维护和促进干净体育而建立的体系充满信心。”

Within minutes of WADA’s announcement of a special prosecutor, Travis T. Tygart, the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, who has been among the biggest critics of the regulator’s handling of the Chinese case, criticized its motives.

在WADA宣布设立特别检察官后不久，美国反兴奋剂机构负责人特拉维斯·泰格特批评了该组织的动机，在WADA对中国事件的处理上，他是最大的批评者之一。

“It’s hard to view this as anything other than a whitewash given the ongoing threats and attacks,” Mr. Tygart said in a statement to The Times. “Clearly it’s precooked. WADA’s statement exemplifies the problem with the current system. WADA does not follow its own rules, and then it gets to handpick an attorney from its own backyard and also sets the scope of that handpicked attorney’s review.”

“鉴于持续不断的威胁和攻击，很难不认为它们是在粉饰太平，”泰加特在给时报的一份声明中说。“很明显，这是事先准备好的。WADA的声明体现了现行制度的问题所在。WADA不遵守自己的规则，然后它可以从自己的后院钦点一名检察官，并决定这名检察官的审查范围。”

Concern about the positive tests has only grown since details of the cases were made public on Saturday. Antidoping authorities in Britain and Australia had already called for an independent review, echoing demands from national swimming governing bodies, athletes and government officials around the world.

自上周六这些阳性检测结果的细节披露以来，人们对这些检测结果的关注与日俱增。英国和澳大利亚的反兴奋剂机构已经呼吁进行独立审查，这也响应了世界各国游泳管理机构、运动员和政府官员的要求。

“Aquatics GB believes that every athlete is entitled to compete on a level playing field — and that means a commitment to clean sport,” British swimming’s governing body said in a statement. “Delivery against this commitment requires a testing process that is robust, transparent and consistently applied.”

“英国游泳运动管理机构认为，每一位运动员都有权在公平的环境中进行比赛，这意味着要致力于干净体育，”英国游泳管理机构在声明中说。“要履行这一承诺，就必须有一个健全、透明和始终如一的检测过程。”

WADA had tried to tame some of the fallout of the China revelations on Monday by hosting a news conference. That effort, which lasted nearly two hours, failed to quiet the outrage, however.

WADA周一召开新闻发布会，试图平息中国事件的部分影响。然而，这场持续了近两个小时的努力未能平息人们的愤怒。

And in acknowledging that it had not followed its own procedures in the case, WADA raised more questions about whether the Chinese were treated differently from athletes in other nations facing similar accusations. The United States Anti-Doping Agency even produced a detailed rebuttal to claims made in the news conference, an emphatic sign that the case — and WADA’s handling of it — would not be allowed to disappear quietly.

该组织承认在这起案件中没有遵循自己的程序，这让人们更加怀疑中国运动员受到的待遇是否有别于其他国家面临类似指控的运动员。美国反兴奋剂机构甚至对新闻发布会上的说法提出了详细的反驳，明确表示不会让这起事件——以及世界反兴奋剂组织的处理方式——悄无声息地淡出视线。