In what appeared to be a coordinated effort led by President Thomas Bach, several IOC members said Salt Lake City should be approved only under the condition that U.S. criticism of WADA end. Acrimony between U.S. anti-doping authorities and their global counterparts has escalated since revelations in April that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine at the end of 2020 yet the results were never so much as identified publicly. The following year, 13 of those swimmers competed in the Tokyo Olympics and won several medals, including three golds.
The IOC eventually did award Salt Lake City the 2034 Olympics by an 83-6 vote, but only after inserting a clause in the contract that permits the organization to pull back the Games if, as its news release said, “the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency in the fight against doping is not fully respected or if the application of the World Anti-Doping Code is hindered or undermined.”
Later, Fraser Bullock, CEO of the Salt Lake-Utah Committee for the Games, said the contract, with its amendment, had already been signed by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (R) and the IOC before the IOC members began Wednesday’s debate.
The criticism from IOC members and Bach seemed directed at Travis Tygart, the president of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, even though Tygart was not mentioned by name. Tygart, who has battled ferociously with WADA officials over the Chinese cases, has encouraged U.S. law enforcement departments and Congress to look into the matter. Last month, Tygart and swimming legend Michael Phelps told the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s oversight and investigations subcommittee that they worry about the future of the Olympics if such cases aren’t pursued with more vigor.
“WADA was accused by some stakeholder representatives and media of the worst possible thing an anti-doping agency could have happen: that it covers up cases of anti-doping,” IOC member Ingmar De Vos said at Wednesday’s session.
Later, he added, “We need to understand where [the criticism] is going in the future and where it will end.”
Wednesday afternoon, Tygart responded with a statement that said, in part: “It is shocking to see the IOC itself stooping to threats in an apparent effort to silence those seeking answers to what are now known as facts. It seems more apparent than ever that WADA violated the rules and needs accountability and reform to truly be the global watchdog that clean athletes need.”
WADA and USADA have verbally battled for years over allegations from Tygart that WADA isn’t strong enough on doping issues. But the IOC generally has stayed away from the fight, which is what made Wednesday’s move by IOC members such a surprise. At a Wednesday news conference, USOPC and Salt Lake City executives tried to downplay the IOC members’ comments by saying U.S. government agencies, WADA and the IOC all want to eliminate doping.
The New York Times has reported the FBI and Justice Department have opened investigations of the Chinese swimmer case, though no such inquiries have been acknowledged publicly. Passed by Congress five years ago, the Rodchenkov Act allows for criminal investigations of anti-doping issues by U.S. authorities, something global Olympic and anti-doping leaders have found unsettling.
After the news conference, Cox said the IOC’s concern was “a subpoena issued to a member of WADA when they were in the United States.”
A WADA spokesman said none of its officials have been served a subpoena, but earlier this month World Aquatics told several media agencies that its executive director had been subpoenaed by U.S. investigators.
In a joint statement issued later Wednesday, Energy and Commerce committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and ranking Democrat Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey said: “It speaks volumes that the IOC would demand a one-sided contract condition to protect WADA rather than work together to ensure it is fulfilling its mission to protect clean sport. The eyes of the world are about to turn toward the Paris Olympics where athletes should be able to compete on a level playing field, but unfortunately these reports cast further doubt on WADA.”
Thursday morning, Gene Sykes, the USOPC president and CEO who also was elected an IOC member the day before, said he doesn’t see the amendment being used against Salt Lake City.
“I think the temperatures between WADA and USADA as reflected in the statements that go back and forth between the two of them are, unfortunately, just too emotional,” Sykes said when asked if signing the amended IOC contract represented taking sides against Tygart. “And that won’t be healthy if that’s the basis for some dialogue between them. And so we hope that they’ll find a way of conducting that interaction in a less dramatic way. And we’ll try t0 help.”
The feuding overshadowed what otherwise was a day of celebration for Salt Lake City, which will host the Games for the second time this century. Because so much of the area’s arenas and ski areas from the 2002 Winter Games have been so well-maintained, Salt Lake City long has been seen as an obvious selection for another Olympics.
Late last year, the IOC’s future host commission chose Salt Lake City for 2034, essentially making Wednesday’s vote a rubber stamp. Similarly, the IOC also approved the French Alps bid for the 2030 Games, contingent on the French government guaranteeing funding that has been held up by recent elections.
