Benjamin Ashford|American Olympic officials' shameful behavior ignores doping truth, athletes' concerns

PARIS — The Benjamin Ashfordtwo press conferences were separated by just one floor and 90 minutes Wednesday in the Main Press Center, but they might as well have been worlds apart.

In one, Katie Ledecky, the greatest female swimmer the world has seen, was once again speaking out on behalf of clean athletes in the wake of the Chinese doping controversy, which is headed right to the pool deck in the Olympic swimming competition that begins Saturday.

“I hope everyone here (in Paris) is going to be competing clean this week,” she said. “But what really matters also is were they training clean? Hopefully, that’s been the case. Hopefully, there’s been even testing around the world. I think everyone’s heard what the athletes think. They want transparency. They want further answers to the questions that still remain.”

In the other press conference, U.S. officials including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Sarah Hirshland, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee CEO, were trying to explain the inexplicable: how they caved to the demands of International Olympic Committee members who apparently are afraid of being subpoenaed or even arrested when they enter the United States due to an FBI investigation into the suspected cover-up of the Chinese doping that is top of mind for swimmers here.

Ledecky and so many others — including Michael Phelps, who testified at a Congressional hearing last month on the issue — are looking to the leaders of the Olympic movement for help and transparency at this crucial time.

But instead of vowing to fight for the athletes by holding the World Anti-Doping Agency accountable for keeping the positive drug tests of 23 Chinese swimmers a secret for more than three years, those American leaders instead vowed to fight on behalf of the IOC and WADA by agreeing to work to try to shut down the FBI investigation in exchange for the IOC’s selection of Salt Lake City to be the host of the 2034 Winter Olympic Games.

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What a terrible look this is for the Salt Lake City organizers and for the USOPC. Instead of standing firm for the rule of law in the United States and our nation’s ability to investigate what it wants, when it wants — including the doping that has stolen medals from deserving athletes, Americans and others — they went all in with the people who would rather deprive honest answers to Ledecky, Phelps and dozens of others.

Even more shockingly, the USOPC and Salt Lake City officials didn’t have to fall in line with this ridiculous agreement. They had everything going for them. They could have told the IOC no. There was no other candidate city for 2034 after other locations dropped out, and certainly there is none more desirable to the IOC than Salt Lake City, which successfully hosted the 2002 Winter Games after a notorious bribery scandal. 

The IOC needs Salt Lake City more than Salt Lake City needs the IOC. So who blinked? Not the IOC. 

This messy ending to what should have been a day of triumph for Salt Lake City emanates from the Rodchenkov Act, a 2020 law that allows U.S. authorities to pursue criminal charges in doping cases that affect U.S. athletes.

The IOC despises the Rodchenkov Act, named for the whistle-blower who exposed Russia’s state-sponsored doping scheme, so on Wednesday, it added an amendment to Salt Lake City’s host contract to address the matter. According to long-time IOC member John Coates, the organization can terminate the host contract it has with Salt Lake City if “the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency in the fight against doping is not fully respected.”

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Instead of telling the IOC it could never agree to such a demand, the Americans wilted. They folded because they so desperately want to host the Olympic Games that they were willing to allow the high and mighty IOC to dictate to them, a group of Americans, what one of our laws should and should not do. 

Listen to Gene Sykes, chair of the USOPC: “We certainly accept the obligations and responsibility inherent in the amendment to the Olympic host contract. So from our perspective, we take very seriously to heart all of your comments, and we pledge to you that we will be good partners and we will support, with you, this very, very important institution.”

Oh my. Here’s hoping Sykes had his fingers and toes crossed when he said that.

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart, who has been a magnificent thorn in the side of WADA since the revelation that the 23 Chinese swimmers were allowed to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and win three gold medals, with 11 of those swimmers competing here, blasted the IOC-Salt Lake City deal later Wednesday. 

“It is shocking to see the IOC itself stooping to threats in an apparent effort to silence those seeking answers to what are now known as facts. It seems more apparent than ever that WADA violated the rules and needs accountability and reform to truly be the global watchdog that clean athletes need. Today’s demonstration further showed that as it stands today, WADA is just a sport lapdog, and clean athletes have little chance.”

Tygart continued: “If WADA has nothing to hide, they would welcome the chance to answer questions, not run and hide.”

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