Witold Banka will be back for a third and final term as president of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The 40-year-old from Poland was re-elected by the organization last week to be the head man until the end of 2028.
In addition, Vice President Yang Yang of China was also elected to a third and final term.
“We are energized by innovation, collaboration, and the unwavering belief that clean sport matters,” said Banka in a virtual address to the WADA Foundation Board after his re-election. “I can assure everyone here that we will work harder than ever to protect the integrity of sport and the dreams of the most important stakeholder of all, the athletes.”
The biggest controversy from a swimming perspective in Banka’s tenure so far came in April 2024, when a New York Times report revealed that 23 members of the Chinese swim team tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug called Trimetazidine.
A full timeline of the scandal can be read here.
WADA released a statement confirming the positive tests but said China followed the appropriate reporting procedures, adding that the results were caused by contamination and not intentional doping.
It led to a battle between WADA and the United States Doping Agency, which called for an independent investigation of the case while creating a list of infractions committed by WADA. The International Olympic Committee eventually supported WADA’s handling of the case.
The United States government got involved in the spat also, going so far as to introduce a bill that would deny WADA of $3.62 million in funding.
Seven of the 23 swimmers from China who tested positive ended up winning a medal at the Paris Olympics. Zhang Yufei and Wang Shun each won individual medals.
Banka is a former track athlete for Poland, where he specialized in the 400-meter dash.
Following his athletic career, he got into politics and became the Minister of Sport and Tourism within the Polish legislature.
In May of 2019, Banka was elected as WADA’s fourth-ever president and started his first term in 2020. In 2022, he was re-elected for a second term.
Yang is a former short track speedskater who won gold in the 500 meters and 1000 meters at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and bronze in the 1000 meters at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
