On the evening of August 7th local time, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), headquartered in Montreal, Canada, issued a statement in response to a report earlier that day that revealed that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) had allowed athletes who took doping to compete for many years, and that at least one case had never been announced or sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations, which was a direct violation of the World Anti-Doping Rules and the US Anti-Doping Agency's own rules.
The statement of the World Anti-Doping Agency stated that the practice of the United States Anti-Doping Agency in allowing doped athletes to compete is a clear violation of the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency designed to protect the integrity of sports competition. The World Anti-Doping Agency has not approved the practice of the United States Anti-Doping Agency in allowing doped athletes to compete for many years.
As a member of the US Olympic track and field team, Eliyan Knighton was found to be positive for steroids (trenbolone) in an out-of-competition doping test on March 26 this year. However, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) suddenly made a decision before the start of the Paris Olympic domestic qualifiers, claiming that Knighton's positive result was caused by the athlete's consumption of contaminated meat, and decided not to impose a ban on him and allow him to eventually represent the United States in the Paris Olympics. In addition, in April this year, American track and field athlete Aldridge Bailey tested positive for the androgen receptor modulator oseline in an out-of-competition test. USADA determined that it was due to the contamination of the neoprene thigh compression sleeve used by the athlete. The relevant facts show that oseline is not a common contaminant.
The WADA statement mentioned a case where an athlete who competed in the U.S. Olympic trials and international events admitted to taking steroids and erythropoietin (EPO), but was allowed to continue competing until retirement. These cases were never made public, the athletes involved were never disqualified, prize money was never returned, and they were never banned. The athletes were allowed to compete against unwitting athletes as if they had never taken performance-enhancing drugs.
Afterwards, when USADA admitted these practices to WADA, it claimed that any publication of the consequences or cancellation of the results would endanger the safety of the athletes, and asked WADA to agree not to publicize the case. In this helpless situation, WADA had no choice but to agree. Therefore, the athlete's doping problem has never been made public.
American athlete Gil Roberts won the gold medal in the 4x400m relay at the Rio Olympics. In 2017, he was "pardoned" by USADA on the grounds that he tested positive for doping due to kissing his girlfriend. However, Roberts was found to have taken banned drugs again in 2022 and was banned for 16 months. Just eight months after his comeback in 2023, Roberts was banned for eight years again for testing positive for doping. Athletes who have violated the rules repeatedly return to the field and compete with other athletes, which seriously undermines the fairness of sports competitions.
The WADA statement asked, "How would other athletes feel if they knew they were competing against people who were allowed to cheat with drugs by the USADA?" Ironically, the USADA hypocritically suspected that other anti-doping agencies were not strictly following the rules, but it itself never announced doping cases for many years and allowed cheaters to continue competing, while expecting these cheaters to help the US catch other athletes who may have violated the rules.
WADA doubts that the board that governs USADA or the U.S. Congress, which funds it, knew about the irregularities, which not only undermine the fairness of sport but also endanger the safety of the athletes involved.