Olympic medal hopefuls are privately warning of anti-China protests in Paris amid mounting outrage over the “contamination” doping-test furore around 23 swimmers prior to the previous Games.
Anger among athletes comes as the World Anti-Doping Agency faces renewed scrutiny over the independence of a review into how those who tested positive came to compete.
Podium protests were banned ahead of Tokyo 2021 but one exchange on an athletes’ messaging group suggests other demonstrations would be considered if Wada fails to satisfy concerns by July.
Scrutiny is intensifying as leading anti-doping specialists also question the credibility of a new investigation into Wada’s apparent decision to clear China in 2021 after positive tests for banned substances months before the Games.
Travis Tygart, chief executive of the US Anti-Doping Agency, claims the new inquiry is being “pre-cooked” in Wada’s favour after a Swiss-based attorney was called in to lead the review.
Team USA Athletes’ Commission and USA Swimming Athletes’ Advisory Council have also jointly written to Wada saying they are “extremely concerned” about the case.
The new review “appears to be a ‘check the box’ exercise that will be substantially limited… and thus fail to reveal the whole truth”, the letter says’
“Once again, we are heading into another Olympic and Paralympic Games with serious concerns about whether the playing field is level and the competition fair.
“The decisions made by Wada, the way they were made, and the lack of transparency has undermined our confidence in Wada’s stated mission to ‘lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport’.”
US athletes have led the most outspoken attacks since the furore erupted this month but there is dismay behind the scenes in the Team Great Britain camp too, with Adam Peaty branding the situation on April 20 as “so disappointing from Wada”.
After investigations by the New York Times and Germany’s ARD network, Wada said this month it was “not in a position to disprove” an assertion from the China Anti-Doping Agency (Chinada) that they had unintentionally ingested heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ).
Medal-winning swimmers have made their feelings known against Chinese dopers previously, with GB’s Duncan Scott and Australia’s Mack Horton both refusing to acknowledge Sun Yang at the world championships in 2019. Swimming’s world governing body Fina allows athletes to express their opinions at news conferences and via media channels but protests during medal ceremonies are prohibited.
Lausanne-based prosecutor Eric Cottier is now expected to deliver findings of an investigation within two months to ease athlete worries ahead of this summer’s games.
However, after The Times detailed how Cottier had worked for more than a decade with an auditor who in 2021 praised Wada for its “incredibly impressive and strong work”, Tygart and other senior figures have questioned why other more obviously independent voices were not considered. Professor Richard McLaren, who delivered the findings of the independent report into Russian doping, was among other potential candidates never contacted, Telegraph Sport understands.
“Certainly, Richard would have been a better choice,” Tygart said. “Obviously it was pre cooked to reach such an agreement in Wada’s own back yard.
“It reeks of a lack of independence. Why, if you aren’t afraid of anything, would you set it up so narrowly? This will get nothing more than a whitewash of what they did.”
The “second problem”, he adds, “is the limited scope” of the review being conducted. “The lack of willingness to allow for actually a meaningful review has undermined its credibility already,” he added. “I could probably write exactly what that report is going to say today.”
Such claims are firmly rejected by Wada. A spokesman told Telegraph Sport that Cottier “comes with a strong reputation as a prosecutor of 39 years’ experience in Switzerland”, is “entirely independent of Wada, the sport movement and governments, and is well known and broadly respected”.
Attempts “to slur the integrity of a highly regarded public prosecutor before he has even started his work are getting more and more ridiculous”, Wada added.
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