Explaining the Dispute Between USADA And WADA

PARIS — Doping, historically linked to the Olympic Summer Games for decades, is not going away as a topic of discussion at the 2024 Paris Games as the dispute between U.S. and world doping officials has exploded into public view this week.

The New York Times in April revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance before the 2020 Games in Tokyo and none were punished. Some won medals in Tokyo, including three golds. Swimmers were allowed to compete after the World Anti-Doping Agency accepted China’s findings that suggested swimmers unwittingly ingested the substance from food they ate.

The World Anti-Doping Agency accepted Chinese explanations for the tests and U.S. officials are now investigating that decision under an anti-conspiracy law passed after the Russian doping scandal at the Sochi Winter Games. The IOC and WADA lobbied against the law, known as the Rodchenkov Act, which gives U.S. federal agencies wide jurisdiction of doping enforcement worldwide.

“I hope everyone here is going to be competing clean this week,” U.S. swimming star Katie Ledecky said Wednesday. “But what really matters also is, were they training clean? So, really, hopefully, that’s been the case. …  At this point, we’re here to race. We’re going to race whoever’s in the lanes next to us and we’re not the ones paid to do the testing. We hope that the people that are (doing the testing) follow their own rules.

“If people are training with things in their system that shouldn’t be in their system, then they’re getting an advantage,” Ledecky later added. “We’re following all those rules. And again, all that we ask is that those rules are being applied fairly and consistently, worldwide.”

Caleb Dressel was blunt on Thursday when asked if he was confident he’ll compete in a clean competition: “No, not really. I don’t think they have given us enough evidence to support them with how this case was handled.”

“When you hear someone like Caleb say that, it’s not what you want any athlete to say,” World Aquatics Executive Director Brent Nowicki said a few minutes later. “We have to regain his trust and athletes’ trust who share that opinion.”

Before the IOC awarded the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City on Wednesday, the IOC put a note in the host city contract that it can terminate the agreement “in cases where the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency … is not fully respected or if the application of the world anti-doping code is hindered or undermined.”

USADA Chief Executive Officer Travis Tygart released a statement after Wednesday’s IOC meeting that in part read: “It is shocking to see the IOC itself stooping to threats in an apparent effort to silence those seeking answers to what are now known as facts. It seems more apparent than ever that WADA violated the rules and needs accountability and reform to truly be the global watchdog that clean athletes need. … If WADA has nothing to hide, they would welcome the chance to answer questions, not run and hide. … We will continue to call for a strong, independent WADA and for transparency over threats. There are basic unanswered questions of how WADA allowed China to sweep 23 tests under the rug, and athletes and the public still deserve answers.”

The USOPC View

USOPC Board Chair Gene Sykes referred to the USADA/WADA back-and-forth as “playing a game of Ping Pong with media bullets” and he believes there will be a resolution to the dispute at some point.

“They don’t agree yet, but they haven’t really been talking to each other,” Sykes said Thursday, adding “the tempers between WADA and USADA … are too emotional.”

The U.S. Olympic Movement supports the World Anti-Doping code, Sykes said and “we think in the United States we do it as well as anybody. We probably do it better than anybody. … We’re not trying to escape from the World Anti-Doping code. We’re trying to make it stronger. We want to cool the tempers and find a way for the organizations to work together.”

Sykes praised Tygart, calling him “a tremendously effective person. He’s also a strong person. … (he) is a very, very able person and is somebody we have a good relationship with.”

“It’s about how do we repair a disagreement between two responsible parties,” Sykes said. “That’s what we want to spend our time on.”

WADA Responds

In a twist, the next press conference after the USOPC session on Thursday morning was WADA in a different room.

WADA President Witold Bańka was asked about the Salt Lake City host contract clause after IOC member criticism and said “my understanding was that this (clause) was not to cut criticism because we are always open to constructive criticism. … The decision of the IOC is to make sure that stakeholders respect the WADA position in the world anti-doping landscape.”

Bańka also referenced the Rodchenkov Act, saying “it’s highly incorrect that one country tries to impose their jurisdiction on anti-doping to the rest of the world.”

“I think anti-doping is complex,” WADA Director General Olivier Niggli added. “That’s what this shows. Sometimes the decisions that are taken are not easy to understand for the public.”

Niggli was challenged by journalists from Germany, where the broadcast network ARD has been one of the leaders in coverage of the China swimming scandal in addition to the New York Times.

Niggli at one point said “we never said that we would look at new evidence,” and claimed WADA has asked ARD for its findings and the request was denied, with an ARD journalist at Thursday’s session shouting back “not correct!”

Bańka and Niggli were visibly irritated by several questions before Chinese state media representatives were allowed the microphone in a moment that gave WADA the chance to criticize the United States, as Bańka said “the inconvertible truth for WADA is 90 percent of American athletes compete not under the world anti-doping code. This is a serious issue we raised this many times in our statements and I’m not speaking only about the private leagues but the college system.”

SportsTravel asked Bańka how he would describe the current state of relations between WADA and USADA and if he would talk with Tygart after the Games to try and work through the two organization’s issues.

“A few times in my life, yes, I have had the chance to exchange views (with Tygart),” Bańka said. “We are always very open for collaboration and it’s obvious they are one of our stakeholders. In the current situation after all the comments, allegations, statements which are totally against the principle of collaboration, it’s a very difficult situation and the relations are very tough.”