Even the boss can’t promise it will be clean. “You will never eliminate doping from the sporting landscape,” Witold Banka, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, declared on the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024. “You will always find someone who wants to cheat.”
Banka may have been right, but he could also be forgiven if his mind was elsewhere. A war has broken out in Paris amid the build-up to an Olympic Games like no other.
At the heart of this flare-up is the scandal that came to light in April, in which 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned drug trimetazidine, just months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The three-time gold medal-winning group, 11 of whom will compete in Paris, including Qin Haiyang, the biggest threat to Britain’s Adam Peaty who won his third straight 100m breaststroke gold, avoided sanctions after it was acknowledged the tests were due to environmental contamination from a hotel kitchen.
At an extraordinary press conference on Thursday, World Anti-Doping Agency leaders were forced to defend themselves. At one point, a German reporter told them their investigation was inadequate. He pointed out that Chinese athletes had not been interviewed outside China and that they had not checked the latest revelations from German broadcaster ARD, which suggested the group in question had not been staying at the same hotel.
Qin Haiyang is one of 11 Chinese swimmers who tested positive ahead of the 2020 Olympics and will compete in Paris
The swimmer is the biggest threat to Adam Peaty who wins a third consecutive gold medal in the men’s 100m breaststroke
This week it was announced that the International Olympic Committee has threatened to cancel the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City unless the FBI drops its investigation into the alleged cover-up of doping by Chinese swimmers, something that would have been astonishing in most other sports.
Olympic officials confirmed Wednesday that the Utah city would host the event, but warned that they would pull the plug “if World Anti-Doping is not fully respected or if the implementation of the Anti-Doping Code is obstructed or undermined.” To make it clear, a clause was even added to the contract requiring local organizers to try to end the investigation or risk losing the Games.
“It was the only way to guarantee that we would have the Games,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said. “They can take the Games away from us.”
The threat to pull the Winter Games from Salt Lake City is seen as a response to the Rodchenkov Act of 2020, which was passed in the US after the Russian doping scandal at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. The law allows US prosecutors to bring criminal charges against people from around the world who have been involved in doping at international events involving US athletes.
No wonder Americans are angry. Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, was quick to respond, saying it was “shocking to see threats in an attempt to silence those who seek answers to what are now called facts.” For good measure, he described the World Anti-Doping Agency as a “lapdog.” “Clean athletes don’t stand a chance,” Tygart added.
World Anti-Doping chiefs stuck to their script on Thursday. No evidence was found that the official conclusion regarding the Chinese swimmers’ tests was not the most likely. “There is a difference between evidence and rumour,” said Director General Olivier Niggli. “We never said we would not reopen or look at new evidence if there was something. We have been in contact with ARD more than once in the last three weeks.”
His comments prompted an incredulous reaction from the ARD reporter in the audience, who accused Niggli of “lies.”
Banka was asked about Tygart’s “lapdog” comment and said: “Unprofessional. I’m speechless.” He also hit out at the Rodchenkov Act, saying it would go before a compliance review committee next month “to check whether this legislation is in line with our global anti-doping code.” If they find it isn’t, it could lead to a range of measures against the US, including losing the right to host.
The World Anti-Doping Agency on Thursday faced questions from media, including President Witold Banka (center left) and Olivier Niggli (Director General, center right).
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There is, however, one major player lurking in the background: the American broadcaster NBC, which has the largest and most lucrative Olympic TV deal.
During what felt like a 47-minute shouting match on Thursday, an Australian reporter told the panel they were “getting hammered all the time,” adding: “This debate has been going on for a long time and you’re not winning.” The panel was also asked if they were “afraid of China.”
Then there was the added color of two Chinese media reporters, who seemed to be reading from a script as they complained about the high testing levels for Chinese swimmers, asking why Americans only started urine testing a month before the competition. They also asked what would be done about the fact that some Chinese minors were named in the leaks.
The dust had barely settled when it was time for another press conference. This time the attack came from American seven-time gold medalist Caeleb Dressel, who forced his way into a World Aquatics event ahead of the swim that begins Saturday.
Asked if he had confidence in the authorities, he replied: “No. I don’t think they’ve provided enough evidence to support the way this case was handled.”
Dressel’s comments were reminiscent of those of her compatriot Katie Ledecky, herself a seven-time Olympic swimming champion, who had said that athletes “want transparency.”
“They want more answers to the questions that are still open,” she added. “We want to see some change going forward so you don’t have to ask us that question.”
It’s not just the Americans. Zac Stubblety-Cook, the Australian Olympic 200m breaststroke champion who lost his world record to Qin, was asked for his opinion on the research.
“It feels like a failure,” he said. “I absolutely believe in clean sport and I hope that these will be a clean Games. It’s disappointing to hear about 23 athletes testing positive; in some cases multiple positives. To find out that you’re racing against someone who was one of those athletes is disappointing.”
The 25-year-old indicated he may refuse to step onto the podium if Qin wins gold and Stubblety-Cook earns silver or bronze.
Not that the only questions are about Chinese swimmers. British taekwondo champion Jade Jones was controversially cleared to compete despite refusing to provide a urine sample to drug testers in December.
Australian Olympic 200m breaststroke champion Zac Stubblety-Cook said he believes the investigation has been botched
Jones, who tested negative eight hours later, was not punished after it was acknowledged she was suffering from “a loss of cognitive capacity” at the time.
On the track, Australian Peter Bol will run the 800 metres after being cleared of blood doping by the country’s sports watchdog, six months after he tested positive.
“It is not our job to give credibility to each individual athlete,” Banka said.
When the Games actually begin on Saturday, that credibility may be in short supply.