The shift of the normal morning prelims and evening finals (to evening prelims and morning finals) occurred for these Games due to the prior request made by US broadcaster NBC (due to the substantial fees NBC has paid for rights to the Olympics, the IOC has allowed NBC to have influence on event scheduling to maximize U.S. television ratings when possible; NBC agreed to a $7.75 billion contract extension on May 7, 2014, to air the Olympics through the 2032 games[3] and is also one of the major sources of revenue for the IOC),[4] so that the finals from the event could be shown live in the United States.

On 20 April 2024, The New York Times revealed that 23 members of the Chinese swimming team tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug called Trimetazidine seven months prior to the start of the games and were allowed to participate in the games with some of the swimmers winning medals.

[13] In response to Tygart's comments, WADA stated that it “stands by the results of its rigorous scientific investigation” into the case and was “astonished by the outrageous, completely false and defamatory remarks while CHINADA stated that the reports were misleading and that the doping tests they conducted only found that the swimmers had only tested extremely low concentration of Trimetazidine which was due to contamination at the hotel they were residing at that time," although any amount of the substance constitutes a ban.

In a second statement, Tygart accused both WADA and the CHINADA for not being transparent about the findings and keeping "clean athletes in the dark".

WADA was alleged to have a double-standard as Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for TMZ and used the same excuse, but was banned for four years following a two-year long investigation.

In contrast, according to WADA, in the case of the Chinese swimmers, several factors pointed towards contamination rather than deliberate doping.

[15] In May 2024, WADA announced that it hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the doping case of the Chinese swimmers.

He found the decision not to appeal was "reasonable, both from the point of view of the facts and the applicable rules".