In response to what he calls ‘foot-dragging’ on the part of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Chief Executive, Travis T. Tygart, submitted a call to action via the New York Times today.
At the core of his Op-Ed piece published May 25th is Tygart’s assertion that, in the interest of protecting clean athletes, the Russian track and field federation must not be allowed to participate at the Rio Olympics.
In November of last year, WADA released its special commission’s report on doping in sport, which revealed a systematic and pervasive doping culture in Russian sports that supposedly reaches up to high levels of the government.
Beyond just track and field, however, English news source The Times published an article this past March, accusing the alleged systemic doping within Russian track and field of having also infiltrated the sport of swimming. As such, Tygart reiterates in his article that the USADA has been calling for a comprehensive investigation of all Russian sport, beyond just track and field.
Tygart’s plea for bold action also highlights other key elements he deems essential to ensuring clean sport. His words plead with WADA to implement much-needed oversight such as the following:
- Richard McLaren heads up the track and field commission, but Tygart says his mandate is ‘too narrow’ and must have the authority to investigate all Russian Sports.
- Tygart urges the investigation to be ‘far more than an exercise in public relations’. He stresses the need for extensive interviews with whistleblowers, coaches, doctors, trainers, athletes and laboratory staff.
- Additionally, samples and other evidence should be ‘guarded like a crime scene’.
- Tygart wants to see a forensic examination of electronic data at Moscow and Sochi labs, as well as at the Russian Anti-Doping Agency and the Russian Sports Ministry.
- WADA’s conflict-of-interest policy should prohibit all board members from having any governing role within a sports organization under WADA’s jurisdiction, according to Tygart.
Tygart expresses especially grave concern over the fact that Russian officials have demanded 30 days’ notice before Russian athletes are tested in so-called military cities. This practice is a clear violation of international anti-doping standards, writes Tygart. If verified, Tygart calls for the entire Russian delegation to be barred not only from the 2016 Olympic Games, but from ‘international competition indefinitely.’
‘Russia cannot expect to compete if it refuses to provide anti-doping officials full access to its athletes’, he writes.
Ultimately, the decision as to whether or not Russia as a whole can compete within track and field specifically is at the hands of the International Association of Athletics Federations, the sport’s international governing body. The association’s next meeting is scheduled for June 17th.
Tygart concludes his piece by writing, ‘demand for strong leadership and answers from within the world of anti-doping is at a record high’, but with Rio less than 80 days away, the timeframe in which WADA and international federations can act to impact the impending Olympics is shrinking.
You can read Tygart’s entire Op-Ed here.
They should be banned indefinitely until it’s clear that their government officials are no involved in all of this, right now it goes all the way up to their dictator who tries to scare the testing committees away from doing their jobs properly. That’s what happens when you cheat your way thru life, you lose the natural competitiveness that makes sports fun, and you rely on outside sources instead of your own strength.
Travis did great work with lance but it is as if the effort has stopped there. How did USA in 2014 have only 7000 tests & a minuscule 34 positives -several of which were location violations & misdemeanours.
Its not a bother to me whether russia is banned -in fact it would make things very interesting. That would take out a perennial host of sporting events e.g. the recent world Ice Hockey Championships & someone else would have to step up. Maybe even the US?
Australia is tied with PRC for 2014 & we did fantastic in 2015 with a whole AFL team suspended -an instant hit of 32 almost equalling the whole USA! Posters smeared when I… Read more »
Interesting Gina that you mention that in Australia an AFL team had 32 players suspended, of which not one of them had a positive drug test. The team in question was clearly pushing boundaries, and although difficult to prosecute ASADA pursued it vigorously.
If other nations, sporting associations and ADA’s showed similar resolve to stamp out performance enhancing drugs then we might end up with a clean competition.
Imo getting further will entail releasing oneself from mainstream legal rights. I don’t know how much Australians are prepared to go to enforce the necessary outings so it will be left for athletes to voluntarily hand over rights. The former Labor Government was prepared to offer up Customs & legal protections to ASDA & WADA but were blocked by a more “libertarian’ Senate . WADA were completely p*ssed off . Labor govts love anything with Capital letters that might lead them to a dream UN spot.
Imo they went after Kylie Palmer to warn of how much damage they could inflict so to bring the AFl team (as you say non positives ) to heel & hand them over… Read more »