US SWIM GREAT PHELPS TELLS CONGRESS THAT OLYMPIC ANTI-DOPING EFFORTS FALL SHORT

Reuters 

U.S. swimming great Michael Phelps told a congressional panel on Tuesday that anti-doping measures "have fallen short" in a case involving Chinese swimmers ahead of this summer's Paris Olympics.

Phelps, fellow gold medalist Allison Schmitt and Travis Tygart, chief executive for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, testified to lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about the measures led by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

"It is clear to me that any attempts of reform at WADA have fallen short, and there are still deeply rooted systemic problems that prove detrimental to the integrity of international sports and athletes right to fair competition, time and time again," Phelps said at the hearing.

Phelps, with 28 medals to his name, is the most-decorated Olympian of all time. Schmitt won 10 medals over four games. Neither will compete in Paris.

WADA in April confirmed reports that nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned drug found in heart medication, before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Schmitt urged lawmakers to hold WADA and the global anti-doping system accountable.

"If we win, let it be because we earned it. And if we lose, let it be because the competition was fair," Schmitt said.

WADA was invited to testify but declined to do so, citing the hearing's focus on the case of the Chinese swimmers.

"WADA considers it inappropriate to be pulled into a political debate before a U.S. congressional committee regarding a case from a different country, especially while an independent review into WADA's handling of the case is ongoing," the organization said in a statement.

Global Athlete, an international athlete-led movement, wrote in an open letter to WADA that sportspersons were left with "little trust" in the anti-doping system following the case of the Chinese swimmers.

"For over a month, questions have been posed to WADA regarding both the agency's actions prior to the allegations becoming public and the reactions since," the letter read.

"Instead of transparently addressing these questions directly, WADA has remained steadfast in their narrative which has provided no clarity on the matter."

WADA vigorously defended its processes and initial handling of the case before saying it would launch an independent review.

CHINADA, China's anti-doping agency, has said the swimmers were inadvertently exposed because of contamination and that they should not be held liable for the positive results. China named its 31-member swim team this month.

WADA said in April it would send a compliance team to assess China's anti-doping program, but leading swimmers, including seven-time gold medalist Katie Ledecky, who is competing in Paris, have continued to express concern.

Lawmakers of both parties slammed WADA's handling of the case.

WADA's refusal to testify was "completely unacceptable," Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers said, pointing out that the agency received over $3 million in funding from the U.S. government last year.

Last month, a separate House committee called for the Justice Department and the International Olympic Committee to launch probes into the doping case involving the Chinese swimmers.

Phelps also said in prepared testimony that he has close friends who were affected by the case.

"Many of them will live with the 'what ifs' for the rest of their lives," Phelps said.

"As athletes, our faith can no longer be blindly placed in the World Anti-Doping Agency, an organization that continuously proves that it is either incapable or unwilling to enforce its policies consistently around the world."

'MAYBE THIS SPORT'S NOT FAIR' US SWIMMERS VENT OVER DOPING CONTROVERSY

USA TODAY Sports 

 Faith in a level playing field at international competitions has been shaken by reports that Chinese swimmers had tested positive for banned substances ahead of the Tokyo Games in 2021, U.S. swimmers said on the eve of the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.

The New York Times in April reported that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive before the Tokyo Games but were allowed to compete anyway.

A subsequent Times report on Friday said three of them had also tested positive for another banned substance in 2016 and 2017 with two of those athletes going on to win gold in Tokyo.

"It's really frustrating for athletes to always have in the back of our mind that maybe this sport's not fair," two-time Olympic gold medalist Lilly King told reporters.

"We put everything on the line. Our privacy, everything that we do to compete on a level playing field. It's really frustrating to not have faith that others are doing the same thing."

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Friday pushed back against criticism of its handling of the most recent Times report, saying the positive tests were due to the swimmers consuming contaminated meat, which it said was not an uncommon occurrence in that part of the world.

"It's really disappointing and frustrating for all the athletes that do go through the (anti-doping testing) process on a regular basis," said Cody Miller, who picked up a gold and a bronze at the Rio Games in 2016.

"Like when they show up at my house when I'm trying to put my kids to bed or trying to feed them dinner and I have to go to the restroom with a stranger and pee in a cup."

Despite the controversy, U.S. women's national team coach Todd DeSorbo said morale was high among the swimmers headed into the Trials, which will determine the 52-person U.S. team for the Paris Olympics that begin next month.

"I don't know that it's impacted our athletes at all," he told reporters.

"They are thinking about today, tomorrow, this meet, this competition. They're focusing on themselves and getting ready to swim fast this week."

The U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials involve more than 1,000 athletes and are being held over nine consecutive nights at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.

It is expected to be the largest swim meet ever.

- Rory Carroll 

WADA CRITICISES U.S. UNDERMINING ANTI-DOPING EFFORTS

 The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) continued to vigorously defend its handling of a drugs case involving 23 Chinese swimmers on Friday while taking direct aim at the United States for trying to undermine the global anti-doping effort.

Following a New York Times report last month detailing events that led to Chinese swimmers avoiding sanctions after testing positive for a banned substance weeks before the Tokyo Olympics, WADA has been fending off criticism and accusations of a cover-up.

But during an extraordinary virtual meeting of its Foundation Board on Friday, WADA blasted its most vocal critic, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the organisation's chief Travis Tygart as hypocrites.

Canadian Dick Pound, who established WADA in 1999, came to his organisation's defence, accusing Tygart of lies and distortions and suggesting USADA's claims were politically motivated.

"On behalf of WADA, I am deeply disappointed and disgusted by the deliberate, lies and distortions coming from USADA, including that WADA has swept doping cases in China under the rug," said Pound, a former IOC member.

"That accusation, bereft of any truth, has but a single purpose to deliberately damage the reputation of WADA.

"To claim that WADA has in some way inappropriately favoured China is completely false," Pound added.

"USADA is financed by the United States government, that government currently has a chilly relationship with China's government. Could there be a connection?"

WADA has stood firm against criticism, arguing that it followed rules and procedures laid out in the anti-doping code and had no evidence to challenge China's findings.

The swimmers avoided sanctions after an investigation by Chinese authorities ruled the positive tests were the result of being inadvertently exposed to the drug through contamination.

A report determined all the swimmers who tested positive were staying at the same hotel where traces of trimetazidine (TMZ), which is found in heart medication, were discovered in the kitchen.

INDEPENDENT REVIEW 

WADA announced in April that it would launch an independent review of the matter led by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier.

"Trust comes from truth and transparency, not obfuscation and childish bluster." said Tygart, responding to WADA's comments.

"Unfortunately, we all know that when you are afraid of the facts, the classic response is to attack the messenger, distract from the real issues, and make it personal."

Tygart said the meeting today demonstrated that the global anti-doping system needed immediate reform.

"The world has legitimate questions about how WADA could turn a blind eye to 23 positive tests on the eve of the Tokyo Olympic Games, and today WADA reinforced those concerns by admitting they purposefully tried to keep this information from going public — the very definition of sweeping it under the carpet," he said.

WADA President Witold Banka said that when it comes to anti-doping, U.S. athletes are some of the least tested in the world and that USADA has used the contamination explanation to clear Americans of positive tests.

"There have been a number of environmental contamination cases in the past, in fact, some of the most elaborate and surprising contamination scenarios have come out of the U.S.," Banka said.

"Just to paint a picture of some inconsistent rule implementation in the U.S. 90% of American athletes, those in the professional leagues and college sport do not compete under the world anti-doping code."