Michael Phelps, Allison Schmitt call for Wada reform in US hearing

WASHINGTON – Swimming icon Michael Phelps and four-gold Olympic champion Allison Schmitt called for reform of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) over the body’s handling of the 2021 Chinese drug scandal.

The duo issued their calls on June 25 while testifying before a US congressional oversight and investigations sub-committee hearing in Washington.

Both Phelps and Schmitt, along with US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) chief executive Travis Tygart, took aim at Wada over the recent revelations concerning 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for banned prescription heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in early 2021.

None of them were suspended or sanctioned after Wada accepted the explanation of Chinese authorities that the results were caused by food contamination at a hotel where they had stayed together.

Several of the swimmers went on to win medals, including gold, at the Tokyo Games.

In separate revelations published by The New York Times last week, it emerged that three of the swimmers – two Tokyo Olympic gold medallists and a current world record holder – tested positive for another banned substance, clenbuterol, in 2016 and 2017.

Wada has rejected claims from Usada that it engaged in a cover-up, and China has denied any wrongdoing.

However, Phelps and Schmitt hit out at Wada’s handling of the case, saying trust in the body among athletes had been damaged by the scandal.

Phelps, 38, winner of a record 23 Olympic gold medals in five Games appearances, compared the current situation to 2017, when he last called for Wada reforms in a hearing before US lawmakers over the 2014 Russia doping scandal.

“It is clear to me that any attempts of reform at Wada have fallen short, and there are still deeply rooted systemic problems that prove detrimental to the integrity of international sports and athletes’ right to fair competition,” he said.

“I urge Congress to use its considerable leverage with Wada to make the organisation independent and effective. It can’t reasonably be a coincidence that Wada has yet again succumbed to the pressures of international sport to do the expedient at the expense of the athlete.”

Phelps added that “close friends” had been potentially impacted by the decision to allow the Chinese swimmers who failed tests in 2021 to compete at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics.

“Many of them will live with the ‘what ifs’ for the rest of their lives,” he said.

“As athletes, our faith can no longer be blindly placed in the World Anti-Doping Agency, an organisation that continuously proves that it is either incapable or unwilling to enforce its policies consistently around the world.”

Schmitt was a member of the US 4x200m freestyle relay team who took silver in Tokyo behind China. That race was one of five events in which Chinese swimmers among the 23 who tested positive for TMZ won medals.

The 34-year-old said, while she had heard “whispers of doping by the Chinese team” throughout her swimming career, she initially had no reason to doubt the legitimacy of China’s 4x200m gold medal in Tokyo.

“We respected their performance and accepted our defeat. But now, learning that the Chinese relay consisted of athletes who had not served a suspension, I look back with doubt,” she said.

“I plead, on behalf of US athletes – hold Wada and the global anti-doping system accountable. If we win, let it be because we earned it. And if we lose, let it be because the competition was fair.”

Tygart, a long-time critic of Wada, said that failure to implement reform of the drug watchdog would be “committing an unacceptable injustice to today’s athletes, fans, and sponsors who believe in and invest in fair and clean competition”.

Wada was invited to testify, but declined to do so.

“Wada considers it inappropriate to be pulled into a political debate before a US congressional committee regarding a case from a different country, especially while an independent review into Wada’s handling of the case is ongoing,” it said. AFP, REUTERS