SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Paris Olympics haven’t even started, and controversy has already reared its ugly head — and the Salt Lake 2034 Olympic delegation seems to be getting caught in the crossfire.
So what is WADA, and why did Olympic officials spend nearly half an hour delaying the Salt Lake 2034 vote to talk about it this morning when it didn’t involve Utah at all?
What is WADA?
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is supposed to be the “supreme authority” on drug testing to keep Olympic athletes clean and on a level playing field.
At the Tokyo 2021 Games, as many as 23 Chinese swimmers failed drug tests given by Chinese authorities and submitted to WADA, showing the performance-enhancing heart drug Trimetazidine (TMZ) in their system, according to CNN. Three more of them also tested positive for clenbuterol between 2016 and 2017, according to the New York Times. Chinese officials said the concentration of the drug was “extremely low” and that the athletes were accidentally exposed to it via contaminated food.
WADA was notified of the testing problems, but they also found “no credible way to disprove the contamination theory” Chinese officials were pushing. As such, WADA did not discipline the athletes — only 11 of whom have been officially named — and two of them went on to win swimming gold medals in Tokyo: Zhang Yufei and Wang Shun.
Earlier this month, multiple media outlets reported a WADA-appointed independent prosecutor cleared the organization of any wrongdoing in the case.
At the same time, however, WADA did ban Russian figure skater Kaila Valieva (pictured at the top of this post), who also claimed to have been unexpectedly contaminated with TMZ before the Beijing 2022 Winter Games after she ate a strawberry dessert. As such, some are accusing WADA of double standards.
Now some of those same athletes are set to compete in the Paris Olympics — specifically, the 11 named Chinese swimmers.
What does this have to do with Salt Lake?
In short, nothing directly. The doping allegations don’t involve anyone connected to the Salt Lake 2034 Games or its delegation. However, many critics of WADA include American politicians who felt the organization fell down on the job. As such, they’re questioning WADA’s integrity.
“Numerous swimmers spoke out about their displeasure at the recent U.S. Olympic Trials while Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt have pressed a U.S. Congressional subcommittee to further investigate WADA,” stated Swimming World in a July 9 article.
But before the International Olympic Committee would let Salt Lake have the 2034 Games this morning, July 24, IOC members spent around 30 minutes expressing concerns that the US might not respect or be willing to acknowledge WADA’s “supreme authority” over drug testing. In fact, they added a stipulation to Salt Lake’s Olympic contract that stated organizers will have to accept WADA rulings or face the termination of their contract.
Gov. Spencer Cox, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Chairman Gene Sykes and Salt Lake City 2034 CEO Fraser Bullock all agreed this morning they would work with WADA for the 2034 Games and they were committed to the Games being clean from doping scandals.
Whether or not members of Congress will uphold that promise remains to be seen.
WADA “has a questionable track record,” U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee chairs Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., said in a joint statement on June 19. “This hearing will give members a chance to examine that track record, and ensure that the best athletes are the ones taking home gold medals.”
China, meanwhile, claims that the US and the New York Times, who first reported on the scandal, are making defamatory reports against their athletes.
So what does it all mean?
Because of the contract, whatever happens must be worked out before the 2034 Games begin.
U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland pointed out in a press conference this morning that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is a signatory and a partner with WADA, and she attempted to downplay the idea that USADA and WADA are at odds.
“It isn’t one organization against another,” she said. “It is two organizations who both want the same thing, that are working toward the same thing, and may not always agree on the path to get there. And our job is to support both in that journey and to help to bring them together to ensure that, in fact, we are collectively galvanizing the [Olympic] movement.”
Hirshland said USADA and WADA both need to be strengthened in their roles, and “it takes all of that to make that happen.”
USADA’s CEO Travis Tygart, however, told NBC News earlier this month that the world and the Chinese anti-doping agency had “secretly, until now, swept these positives under the carpet.” Tygart also told CNN: “From the beginning, our goal has been uncovering the truth and the facts of this situation on behalf of clean athletes. Until WADA leadership shares that goal and stops spewing vitriol at any voice of dissent, there will be no trust in the global anti-doping system. WADA’s credibility is crumbling before the world’s eyes.”
CNN also reports the Justice Department is looking into a criminal investigation regarding the matter and that Swimming International’s Executive Director Brent Nowicki has been ordered to testify in the matter. Under a 2020 law, the government can prosecute those who help athletes dope in international competitions.
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