The World Anti-Doping Agency has dropped its lawsuit against the United States Anti-Doping Agency over a dispute about Chinese swimmers testing positive for a banned substance in 2021.
The 23 swimmers were cleared to compete at the Tokyo Olympics by Wada after it found it could not disprove the China Anti-Doping Agency's conclusion that the positive tests for heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) were caused by contamination.
Usada chief executive Travis Tygart accused Wada of a cover-up - a claim Wada rejected as "completely false and defamatory" before it filed a defamation lawsuit in Swiss court against Usada and Tygart.
Wada said it remains "convinced" the lawsuit would have been successful but has withdrawn it in the "interest of moving on".
Tygart said Wada dropping the "baseless" lawsuit is "complete vindication" for himself and Usada.
After the case involving the Chinese swimmers became public in April last year, an independent investigation by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier in July said Wada did not show biasand and acted reasonably.
Tygart was again critical and called on Wada to conduct a "more thorough" audit by an investigator appointed by a neutral third party.
Tensions between the two organisations have since remained high.
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