LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – Olympic officials are calling for a reduction in tensions after a dispute over testing for performance-enhancing drugs could result in Los Angeles losing the 2028 Summer Olympics.
After 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the World Anti-Doping Agency allowed them to compete anyway, Americans have publicly criticized the agency.
Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, even went so far as to publicly accuse WADA of perpetuating a coverup for the Chinese athletes.
Those swimmers won three gold medals in Tokyo “just weeks after the World Anti-Doping Agency declined to challenge Chinese authorities’ explanation of food contamination at a hotel to justify not suspending them,” the Associated Press reported. Eleven of those athletes are set to compete again in Paris this summer.
And Tygart isn’t alone, with star American swimmer Caeleb Dressel adding his voice to the criticism.
The seven-time gold medal winner was asked if he thought there would be a fair competition in Paris, and in response, he expressed his frustration with WADA and how the Chinese doping allegations were handled, as Reuters reported.
“No. I don’t [think there will be a level playing field]. No. Not really,” Dressel said. “I don’t really think they’ve given us enough evidence to support them with how this case was handled.”
Other swimming heroes like Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky have also cast doubt on WADA’s ability to properly police the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The American criticism has resulted in “an increasingly bitter feud between the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States Anti-Doping Agency,” Reuters added, prompting the International Olympic Committee to warn American Olympic officials that the L.A. games and the 2034 Winter Olympics coming to Salt Lake City could be taken away.
As part of hosting the Olympics, countries can lose that privilege “in cases where the supreme authority of WADA in the fight against doping is not fully respected.”
WADA is reviewing USADA’s compliance with its policies. If the American agency fails that review, the United States will be banned from hosting or competing in the Olympics.
Despite some working to calm tensions, Reuters reports that the dispute could spill over into public view in Paris.
“While there have been efforts to bring the temperature down on hostilities, the doping scandal remains poised to overshadow racing at the La Defense Arena pool when the action gets underway on Saturday,” the outlet reported.
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