Michael Phelps says American athletes are losing confidence in WADA before the Paris Olympics. olympic games

U.S. Olympic athletes have lost confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency to rid their sport of cheaters ahead of next month’s Summer Games in Paris, two former gold medalists told a House subcommittee Tuesday night.

The testimony of Michael Phelps and Allison Schmidt follows revelations this spring that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned heart drug ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but WADA allowed them to compete. Five of those swimmers won medals, including three gold.

Phelps is the most decorated swimmer in history and a 23-time Olympic gold medalist. Schmidt, a four-time gold medalist, was part of the US 800-meter freestyle relay team that finished second to China at the Tokyo Games. Both the Chinese and American teams broke the previous world record in the relay.

“We raced hard. We trained hard. We followed every protocol. “We accepted our defeat gracefully,” Schmidt said. “Many of us will be upset by this podium finish which may have been influenced by doping.”

Eleven Chinese swimmers who tested positive before Tokyo will compete again in Paris. Phelps nodded in agreement several times as members of Congress criticized WADA and said Americans should be able to watch the Olympics without wondering whether the competition was rigged.

Phelps said, “As athletes, our trust can no longer be blindly placed in the World Anti-Doping Agency, an organization that continues to prove itself incapable or ineffective of consistently enforcing its policies around the world.” Is it or is it unwilling?

Phelps expressed frustration that nothing has changed since he testified before the same subcommittee seven years ago about WADA’s handling of Russian state-sponsored doping. “Sitting here once again, it is clear to me that any efforts to reform WADA fall short of, and there are still deeply rooted, systemic problems that threaten the integrity of international sport and the rights of athletes to compete fairly, period. And time and time again,” Phelps said. “To be honest, if we keep letting this slide, there probably won’t even be an Olympic Games.”

The global doping regulator accepted Chinese anti-doping officials’ findings that 23 athletes had consumed a banned substance through contaminated food at a hotel. Independent anti-doping experts have questioned that conclusion, with US Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart calling it “outrageous”.

“The banned drug, which is available only in pill form, somehow ended up in the kitchen of the hotel where the swimmers were staying,” said Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a representative from Washington. He said that WADA “somehow concluded that this explanation was plausible.” ,

WADA said COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in China prevented “on-the-ground investigation” of positive tests and concluded it could not reject Chinese authorities’ explanations.

WADA President Witold Banka was invited to testify on Tuesday but declined. “Unfortunately, some in the United States continue to have a narrative that WADA somehow acted inappropriately or showed bias toward China, even though there is no evidence to support that theory,” Banka said in a statement. ” “WADA understands the strained relations that exist between the governments of China and the United States and has no right to be a part of it. It is not appropriate for anti-doping to be politicized in this manner.

In response to criticism, WADA appointed an independent investigator, Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, to review the handling of the China case. Cottier was appointed on 25 April and was expected to deliver his findings within two months. His appointment also angered critics, who said it pointed to a conflict of interest.

The United States gives more money to WADA than any other country, including nearly $3.7 million this year. Tygart said in his testimony that China had given WADA $1.8 million more than its required dues since 2018.

Tygart called for the US to condition WADA’s future funding on reforms to the agency, an idea that Republican and Democratic lawmakers said they support. “I think the threat of it will go a long way in bringing the truth out if (funding) is not actually suspended for a period of time,” Tygart said. “We need to make sure that our money is going to a good cause and at the moment that is simply not the case.”