Global Times editorial: The doping suspicions of American athletes cannot be left unresolved
2024-08-12
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Many doubts about the doping case of American Olympic track and field athlete Eliyan Knighton remain unresolved, which is causing increasing concerns. We believe that these doubts need a clearer answer and should not be left unresolved. Therefore, it is necessary to use various means, such as publishing sample concentrations, providing relevant evidence, and independent third-party testing, and to implement more stringent inspections on American track and field athletes participating in the Paris Olympics to ensure the fairness of the Olympic events and give the world a clean Olympic venue.
According to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Knighton was found to be positive for steroids (trenbolone) in an out-of-competition doping test on March 26 this year, which was caused by "the athlete's consumption of contaminated meat", so it was decided not to impose a ban on him. However, trenbolone is not a common contaminant. It can enhance explosive power, but the side effects are also great. Therefore, many countries have banned the use of trenbolone in food animals. It is listed as a non-specific substance in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) "Prohibited List". In recent years, hundreds of trenbolone positive cases have been detected around the world, and most of them have been punished based on the standard of a 4-year ban. Why is Knighton an exception? How did this low-probability event "happened" to Knighton?
In particular, in the Knighton case, all the investigation results came from USADA's one-sided statement, and their authenticity needs to be verified by WADA. It should be pointed out that Knighton's "innocent statement" has been withdrawn from USADA's official website, along with his past statements and reports on pollution cases without fault. This series of strange actions inevitably aroused speculation. USADA needs to respond to the outside world's doubts and concerns about all aspects of the whole thing, and Knighton, as a highly suspected athlete, should also be subject to stricter anti-doping supervision.
For a long time, due to the overbearing style of the United States in the field of anti-doping, "I can only investigate you, but you are not allowed to investigate me", the domestic anti-doping procedures and standards are uneven, and the handling of doping by American athletes is also extremely opaque, forming a huge sports black box. WADA President Banka previously stated directly that up to 90% of American athletes, including professional and college athletes, did not comply with WADA regulations. People have every reason to doubt whether the US Anti-Doping Agency has neglected to supervise the abuse of drugs by domestic athletes, or even deliberately covered it up.
Take Phelps, who recently told the US Congress that he "no longer trusts the World Anti-Doping Agency", for example. His drug scandal in 2009 shocked the world. However, the relevant US agencies were "completely unaware" of this situation. It was not until a British media published the photos that Phelps had to admit to taking drugs and apologize to the public. According to regulations, Phelps should have been banned for 2 to 4 years, but in the end, the US Swimming Association only banned him for 3 months and lightly passed the matter. This reminds people of Lewis, an American track and field athlete who also regarded himself as an "anti-doping flag bearer" and won the men's 100-meter gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 2003, after being exposed by an American doctor, Lewis admitted that he had failed three drug tests during the US team trials, but the US Olympic Committee turned a blind eye to it.
Past cases full of loopholes have shown that it is difficult to convince people that the US athletes are innocent if the relevant US departments "check and correct" themselves. In particular, if the US follows the logic of "whoever has good results should be investigated first", then in fields where the US has long had an advantage, such as track and field and swimming, US athletes should be "focused on". Accepting supervision from relevant international organizations such as the World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Testing Agency (ITA), and World Athletics is an effective way to prove whether the US gold medals are clean.
At the same time, people also suspect that American athletes are abusing the "therapeutic use exemption" under the pretext of suffering from asthma, ADHD and other diseases, and "legally taking banned drugs". According to the BBC, the Cycling Independent Reform Commission said in 2015 that the abuse of "therapeutic use exemption" is very common in the sports world, and even about 90% of athletes who apply for exemptions do so to improve their performance. According to previously exposed materials, the number of American athletes tops the list of athletes who have been exempted. Whether there is any trickery involved and whether the declarations of the relevant athletes are true also require the help of external supervision and review.
The United States often talks about rules in international occasions, but it often has two sets of rules for itself and others, and the same is true for anti-doping issues. Although the United States Anti-Doping Agency is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code, the four major leagues in the United States are not subject to the jurisdiction of the World Anti-Doping Code, resulting in its punishment of athletes who violate the rules of doping, not complying with international standards. People's intuitive feeling is that the United States often uses its own standards to throw dirty water and "preemptively" trip up other countries, especially those foreign athletes who compete with American athletes, but often makes a big deal out of a small matter when it comes to athletes who violate the rules in its own country.
Because of this, the US investigation into Knighton's positive doping test is hard to convince people. As a major sports country, the US should set an example in anti-doping. Whether American athletes, including Knighton, have used doping should not be decided by the US alone, but should be handed over to the more authoritative World Anti-Doping Agency.
