In a recent letter to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) strongly urged the other side to carry out "comprehensive and thorough" rectification of long-standing anti-doping shortcomings.
On July 25, in Paris, France, the World Anti-Doping Agency held a press conference at the Paris Olympics
In a letter to Toby · Smith, president of the USADA Board of Governors, WADA noted that 90 percent of athletes in the United States, especially college athletes and professional league athletes, are not protected by an anti-doping system that meets international standards, and that foreign college athletes training in the United States are even called "doping holidays." They compete for gold and silver in international competitions such as the Olympics, which leads to unfair competition. Even athletes who are included in the international anti-doping system are grossly inadequate in the number of inspections they receive each year by USADA; In addition, USADA violated the World Anti-Doping Code by allowing athletes with serious doping violations to continue to compete, win medals, and receive prize money as "undercover" under the pretext of obtaining intelligence.
As a result, WADA strongly calls on the United States to "undertake a comprehensive and thorough overhaul of its anti-doping system, particularly in collegiate sports." "WADA will continue to enforce the Code fearlessly and impartially without fear of political interference, working with athletes and other sports players, national and regional anti-doping organizations, and government agencies."
Women's 100m butterfly final, Paris Olympics, France, July 28. United States athlete Husk won the championship. After the game, she was noticed because of her purple skin
In the letter, WADA noted that because the National Collegiate Athletic Association and professional leagues of United States are not governed by the World Anti-Doping Code, the anti-doping regulations for its athletes are "well below internationally recognized standards." Many of the student athletes from the NCAA member schools will grow into world-class athletes, and according to statistics, three-quarters of the United States delegation to the Paris Olympics come from the university sports system.
"Even USADA's CEO, Tygart, acknowledges the inadequacy of the university's anti-doping system." WADA SAID.
WADA said the lack of anti-doping efforts in the USADA has long affected not only domestic players in the United States, but also foreign athletes training in the United States who have been called "doping holidays" by Taigart. At the Paris Olympics, more than 1,000 foreign university athletes from more than 100 countries have trained, are training or will be training in United States. Among them, 272 people from 26 countries (regions) won 330 medals.
Knighton was found to be positive for steroids (Trenbolone) during a doping test on March 26 of this year. But the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) made a sudden decision before the start of the domestic qualifiers for the Paris Olympics, claiming that Knighton's positive result was caused by the athlete's consumption of contaminated meat, deciding not to impose a ban on him and allowing him to eventually represent the United States at the Paris Olympics.
WADA said the low number of doping tests is also an indication of weak USADA regulation. According to statistics, only 3,011 athletes were tested in 7,773 cases in 2023, "a disappointing number compared to the size of the United States delegation to the Olympics." WADA went on to point out that France's anti-doping agency uses only about one-third of USADA's budget to perform far more inspections than the United States, and China, United Kingdom, Russia and Italy carry out more inspections than United States.
WADA said that while its own anti-doping efforts are insufficient, USADA also tries to convince United States athletes that their foreign rivals are not honest enough. At the same time, USADA also violated the law by allowing United States players with serious doping violations to continue to participate in international tournaments on the condition that they provide intelligence as undercover agents.
In addition, WADA has learned through its work with law enforcement agencies in Europe and elsewhere that the United States is a huge market for doping sales and distribution, which is not only a sports problem, but also a social problem.
In light of this, WADA has received letters from 32 national and regional anti-doping agencies in Europe, Africa and Asia asking USADA to rectify its own problems.