Paris 2024 Olympics: “As athletes, we can no longer blindly trust the World Anti-Doping Agency”, the rant of the legend Phelps
Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer of all time MAXPPP – Alpha Press
The former American swimmer with 28 Olympic medals calls for reform of WADA after its handling of the doping scandal in Chinese swimming in 2021.
American swimming legend Michael Phelps and four-time American gold medalist Allison Schmitt on Tuesday called for reform of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), due to mismanagement of the doping scandal in Chinese swimming in 2021.
"I urge Congress to use its considerable influence over the AMA to make the organization independent and effective. It cannot be a coincidence that WADA has once again succumbed to the pressures of international sport to do what is expedient at the expense of the athlete. Phelps told a US Congressional Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee in Washington.
The complicity of the AMA
In April, the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive in 2021 for trimetazidine – substance that can improve performance. None of the 23 swimmers were suspended or sanctioned, with WADA accepting the Chinese authorities' explanation that the results were due to food contamination at a hotel where they had stayed.< /p>
There continue to be deep-seated systemic issues that prove detrimental to the integrity of international sport
Several of these athletes then won medals at the Tokyo Olympics. And 11 are among the swimmers selected for the 2024 Olympics (July 26-August 11). The 38-year-old swimmer with 23 Olympic gold medals compared the current situation to that of 2017, when he had already called for reforms to WADA after the doping scandal in Russia in 2014 .
"It is clear that all attempts to reform the WADA have failed, and that there are still deep-seated systemic problems which prove detrimental to the integrity of international sport and the right of athletes to fair competition", estimated the American. "As athletes, we can no longer blindly trust the World Anti-Doping Agency, which continually proves that it is incapable or unwilling to enforce its policies consistently throughout the world", he continued.
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