An Olympic-sized fight erupts among anti-doping officials, and it’s just getting started

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer

PARIS (AP) — The stream of threats, recriminations and anti-doping innuendo flowed freely again Thursday when tensions over a U.S. law designed to combat drugs in sports escalated on the eve of the Paris Olympics.

It’s a fight that’s been simmering for a decade, sparked by Russia’s brazen doping scandal at the Sochi Olympics. The reaction from the World Anti-Doping Agency and IOC was criticized as too weak by many, including the United States. So much so, that the U.S. passed a law in 2020 giving federal authorities power to investigate sports doping and cover-ups.

After details emerged about 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance – Chinese authorities blamed it on contamination from a hotel kitchen – but none were suspended and some went on to win medals at the Tokyo Olympics, the U.S. launched an investigation.

The latest round of backlash played out in a trio of news conferences in Paris, the highlight of which came when leaders at WADA suggested they might sanction one of their biggest critics, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, over the law.

“As a global regulator, one of our duties is to make sure our stakeholders are following our regulations and rules, and that the national legislation is in accordance with the world anti-doping code,” WADA president Witold Banka explained.

While some tried to calm things down, others could see a worst-case scenario: that the U.S. not be allowed to host big-time events such as the Olympics in the future.

Banka’s statement came a day after the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City, but cast a pall over that celebration by extracting a promise that organizers pressure U.S. lawmakers to scuttle the law, along with a related investigation into the Chinese doping case.

A law that passed unanimously

Chances of that are slim — the American Congress passed that bill in 2020 without a dissenting vote — so another strategy would be to go after USADA.

If WADA determines the law, called the Rodchenkov Act, doesn’t adhere to the rules, it could start the process of finding USADA in noncompliance.

That, in turn, could trigger sanctions, which can jeopardize America’s ability to host international events. It’s the same treatment WADA handed to Russia’s anti-doping agency during that country’s long-running drug scandal.

Congress recently held a hearing about the Chinese doping scandal and there have been suggestions that the U.S. government might withhold its annual funding from WADA.

The chair and ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee — Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) — released a statement.

“It speaks volumes that the IOC would demand a one-sided contract condition to protect WADA rather than work together to ensure it is fulfilling its mission to protect clean sport,” they said.

Threatening USADA

The mere threat of putting USADA on a noncompliant list marks the latest broadside in a mushrooming exchange of rhetoric.

USADA’s CEO, Travis Tygart struck back.

“You know it’s a broken system when WADA … threatens a compliance case against USADA for a U.S. law enacted by Congress that has cleaned up sport consistent with the WADA rules and has been in existence for several years,” he said in a statement to The Associated Press.

At his own news conference in Paris, USOPC chair Gene Sykes, who was just made a member of the IOC, said he hopes this pattern of “throwing rocks at each other” would calm down soon.

“I think the tempers between WADA and USADA as reflected in the statements that go back and forth between the two of them are unfortunately just too emotional,” Sykes said.

Some athletes, including Caeleb Dressel, don’t trust the system

World Aquatics, which runs swimming, held its own news conference, where swimmers and executives were asked about the Chinese case.

American swimmer Caeleb Dressel was asked if he had confidence in the anti-doping system.

“No. Not really.” Dressel said. “I don’t really think they’ve given us enough evidence to support them in how this case was handled.”

A few seats away was World Aquatics executive director Brent Nowicki who, as the AP reported earlier this month, recently received a subpoena from U.S. investigators as part of their probe into the China case.

“We have to regain his trust and those athletes’ trust who share that same opinion,” Nowicki said. “I’d like you to ask that same question of Caeleb in L.A. (at the 2028 Olympics). My hope, my goal, is that his mind changes.”

Some IOC leaders are worried about traveling to the U.S.

The Nowicki subpoena is part of the first known use of the Rodchenkov Act for an international incident.

It illustrates the wide net U.S. investigators might cast to fight doping — wide enough that it seems some folks are avoiding the United States, altogether. For instance, WADA moved a conference it had planned for this fall from New York to Montreal.

“I don’t think I would share my private travel schedule in a press conference,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said, drawing laughs, when asked if he had plans to visit the U.S.

The law was passed to allow American authorities to prosecute doping conspiracies in any sports event involving U.S. athletes — which includes the Olympics and pretty much every major competition around the world.

WADA has long lobbied against this law, specifically its “extraterritorial” clause, which it says gives U.S. authorities a separate and inappropriate role in enforcing anti-doping rules against foreigners.

“It’s highly incorrect that one country tries to impose jurisdiction on anti-doping decisions on the rest of the world,” Banka said.

Salt Lake City caught in the middle

None of this was on the radar of leaders in Salt Lake City, who came to Paris expecting a celebration, and maybe even a pat on the back for offering to host the Winter Games — an event cities aren’t lining up to underwrite anymore.

SLC organizing president Fraser Bullock said despite the language in the contract “in my mind, there’s zero doubt” that Utah will host the Games, as promised.

“For us, we feel bad that we did get pulled into it,” Bullock said. “But we understand that’s an issue that has to be addressed. It’s just very unfortunate timing.”

AP National Writer Paul Newberry contributed.