ITTF participates in anti-doping. Kanak was banned for missed tests back in 2023, and in 2010 Dima received a suspension for clen that was rescinded. He claimed it was from eating contaminated meat but that's almost never the case.
Those are the only two cases I know of， but the benefits of doping in table tennis are not very remarkable, vs something like swimming or sprinting.
Ovtcharov's explanation is believable. Clenbuterol was so widely used in pig farming illegally in China back then that even the CNT had to secure their own source of meat for London 2012.
国乒集训严防瘦肉精麻烦 特供猪肉每斤贵20元 (The Chinese national table tennis team is taking strict precautions against the use of clenbuterol during training; specially supplied pork is 20 yuan more expensive per catty)
http://2012.sina.com.cn/cn/tt/2012-05-31/18186308.shtml
据负责国乒队后勤保障的工作人员介绍，首批500公斤肉制品已在前天运到厦门，包括猪肉、牛肉、羊肉和少量的禽类。国乒队领队黄飚介绍，国家队与北京的这几个肉类基地已经合作多年，都是经过国家体育总局批准和挑选，并签订特别的供货合同，严格筛选肉类质量。即便如此，每批肉类空运过来之前，依然需要送到总局反兴奋剂中心进行检测，确保不含生长素、“瘦肉精”等成分。
工作人员说，每一批肉制品运来时，都必须附有相应的检测报告，确保安全。在厦门集训期间，国乒队的肉制品都将从北京空运，根据实际需要，不够再补充。
国乒已经先后20次来厦进行封闭训练，今年是第一次从北京空运肉制品，可见对“瘦肉精”问题的高度重视。为了避免“瘦肉精”带来的非战斗性减员，国家体育总局在今年元旦过后，专门召开了奥运备战期间食品安全问题的会议，会上重申不允许运动员在外吃猪肉和牛羊肉。
(According to staff responsible for the logistics support of the Chinese national table tennis team, the first batch of 500 kilograms of meat products arrived in Xiamen the day before yesterday. This batch includes pork, beef, mutton, and a small amount of poultry. Huang Biao, the team leader, explained that the national team has been cooperating with these meat production bases in Beijing for many years. These bases are approved and selected by the General Administration of Sport of China, and special supply contracts are signed, ensuring strict quality control of the meat. Even so, each batch of meat still needs to be tested by the Anti-Doping Center of the General Administration of Sport before airlifting to ensure it is free of growth hormones, clenbuterol, and other harmful substances.
The staff member said that each batch of meat products must be accompanied by a corresponding test report to ensure safety. During the training camp in Xiamen, the national table tennis team's meat products will be airlifted from Beijing, with additional supplies added as needed.
The national table tennis team has conducted closed training in Xiamen 20 times before;
this is the first time meat products have been airlifted from Beijing, demonstrating the high level of importance placed on the clenbuterol issue. To avoid non-combat casualties caused by "lean meat powder," the General Administration of Sport of China convened a special meeting on food safety issues during the Olympic preparation period after New Year's Day this year.
The meeting reiterated that athletes are not allowed to eat pork, beef, or mutton outside of the venue.)
食品安全危機特輯 (Food Safety Crisis Special)
https://www.healthcarehk.org/tc/mag/84/files/assets/common/downloads/page0024.pdf
瘦肉精”事件不斷
2002年，農業部《禁止在飼料和動物飲用水中使用
的藥物品種目錄》禁用的“腎上腺素受體激動劑”
（瘦肉精）包含鹽酸克倫特羅（傳統瘦肉精）等7種
藥物。如今，農業執法人員多檢測鹽酸克倫特羅和
萊克多巴胺，剩下5種極少抽檢。據不完全統計，
從1999年到2005年，中國國內共有近3000人因食用
“瘦肉精”豬肉中毒。其中包括2001年l月浙江余杭
市59人中毒、2001年11月廣東河源市484人中毒、
2006年9月上海300餘人中毒、2009年2月廣州70人中
毒等重大事件。
瘦肉精的受害者似乎不止普通民眾。一些被興奮劑
檢測陽性的運動員，也都把原因歸結到了“吃了含有
瘦肉精的豬肉”。這些興奮劑檢測呈陽性的運動員，
包括中國男子泳壇曾經的領軍人物之一歐陽鯤鵬、
德國乒乓球新星奧恰洛夫、環法自行車賽三冠王康
塔多以及最近的奧運柔道冠軍佟文，都在第一時間
喊冤，稱是誤食了含有瘦肉精的豬肉。
北京奧運會前，歐陽鯤鵬和美國泳將哈迪均因瘦肉
精尿檢陽性，而被禁止參賽。瘦肉精屬蛋白同化製
劑，能減少酮體脂肪合成，被世界反興奮劑機構禁
止。運動員很少服用這種“低端產品”，尿檢陽性者
多數是吃路邊攤燒烤造成，十分無辜。
2010年5月，國際柔道聯合會在突尼斯全體聯會上對
中國運動員佟文作出了“兩年禁賽處罰”：由於奧運
冠軍佟文在2009年荷蘭鹿特丹柔道世錦賽被查出賽
後尿檢呈陽性，國際柔聯不僅剝奪了佟文本人在柔
道運動員委員會的席位，還同時開出了全球禁賽兩
年的處罰。佟文的恩師、教練吳衛鳳感嘆說：「她（佟
文）應該是無意中吃了含有大量瘦肉精的排骨才造成
這樣的後果。」
運動員的興奮劑檢測是否就是因為食用了被污染的
豬肉很難說。但從概率上講，特別是大量地吃肯定
有風險。為了防範這顆“定時炸彈”，不吃或者少吃
豬肉，已經成為頂尖運動員的一致選擇。
(The "lean meat powder" incident continues
In 2002, the Ministry of Agriculture's "List of Drugs Prohibited from Use in Feed and Animal Drinking Water" banned "adrenergic receptor agonists" (lean meat powder), including seven drugs such as clenbuterol hydrochloride (traditional lean meat powder). Currently, agricultural law enforcement officers primarily test for clenbuterol hydrochloride and ractopamine, with the remaining five rarely being tested. According to incomplete statistics, from 1999 to 2005, nearly 3,000 people in China suffered from poisoning after consuming pork containing "lean meat powder." This includes the case in January 2001 in Yuhang, Zhejiang. Major incidents involving ractopamine include 59 cases in one city, 484 cases in Heyuan City, Guangdong Province in November 2001, over 300 cases in Shanghai in September 2006, and 70 cases in Guangzhou in February 2009.
The victims of ractopamine seem to extend beyond ordinary citizens.
Some athletes who tested positive for doping also attributed the cause to "eating pork containing ractopamine." These athletes include Ouyang Kunpeng, a former leading figure in Chinese men's swimming,
Dimitrij Ovtcharov, a rising star in German table tennis, and three Tour de France cyclists. Both Olympic judo champions, including Cantador and Tong Wen, immediately protested their innocence, claiming they had mistakenly consumed pork containing ractopamine.
Before the Beijing Olympics, Ouyang Kunpeng and American swimmer Hardy were both banned from competition due to positive ractopamine tests. Ractopamine is an anabolic agonist that reduces ketone body fat synthesis and is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Athletes rarely consume this "low-end product," and most positive tests are due to eating street food, making them completely innocent.
In May 2010, the International Judo Federation imposed a two-year ban on Chinese athlete Tong Wen at its general assembly in Tunisia: Olympic champion Tong Wen tested positive for doping after the 2009 World Judo Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The International Judo Federation not only stripped Tong Wen of her seat on the Judo Athletes' Committee but also imposed a two-year global ban. Tong Wen's mentor and coach, Wu Weifeng, lamented, "She (Tong Wen) probably unintentionally ate ribs containing a large amount of clenbuterol, which caused this consequence."
Whether an athlete's doping test is due to consuming contaminated pork is difficult to say. However, statistically speaking, especially consuming large quantities, there is certainly a risk. To guard against this "time bomb," avoiding or minimizing pork consumption has become a common choice for top athletes.)
