Dick PoundJohn McClellan, a former Canadian swimming champion and the first president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), told Reuters on Tuesday that the United States could lose its Olympic hosting rights over an investigation into Chinese swimmers' involvement in contamination at the 2021 Olympics.
U.S. law enforcement agencies are investigating Chinese doping cases under the Rodchenkov Act, which was passed in 2020 to expand U.S. jurisdiction to international sporting events involving American athletes and financial interests. The law, named after a Russian whistleblower, first resulted in a guilty plea last May to a man charged with distributing banned drugs to Nigerian sprinters ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Earlier this month, World Aquatics confirmed that the United States had opened a federal investigation into 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for banned substances in 2021 but competed in the Tokyo Olympics later that year. In May, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency traded accusations with WADA, alleging a cover-up and claiming the agency had “covered up” 23 positive tests.
“This law violates anti-doping law,” Pound said of the Rodchenkov Law. “I would speculate that one of the steps WADA will take at this point is to refer this to a compliance review committee.”
“I think if there is a hearing on this matter, the United States will declare non-compliance,” he added. “That would mean the United States cannot host the Olympics.”
With deals already signed and much of the planning already underway, it's probably too late to strip Los Angeles of its 2028 Summer Olympics rights, but Pound said the International Olympic Committee's frustration with the Rodchenkov Law could lead it to delay confirming Salt Lake City as the site of the 2034 Winter Olympics at its annual meeting next week.
“There's certainly an opportunity. Apparently there's a meeting in Puerto Rico in November,” Pound said. “The easy way to make that work is to say, hey, listen, this is the Americas Games, maybe it's time to announce it in Puerto Rico. If I was king of the mountain, I'd call (the president of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee).” Gene Sykes And then they say, “There's a commotion here, and this bill is putting America at a disadvantage.”
Eleven of the 23 Chinese swimmers who have tested positive in 2021 are due to compete in the Paris Olympics, which begin in just over a week. The most high-profile swimmers to test positive were gold medallists from the Tokyo Olympics. Zhang Yufei and Wang Shun2023 World Champion, 3-time World Record Holder Qin Haiyang.
