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Paris Olympics: Ledecky demands transparency over doping cases

Ledecky said there were issues still to be resolved when asked at a USA swim team press conference if she felt races at the 2024 Paris Games would be fair

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USA's Katie Ledecky celebrates her victory in the women's 1500m freestyle event during the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka on July 25, 2023. — AFP file

By AFP

Published: Wed 24 Jul 2024, 6:46 PM

Multiple Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky said on Wednesday that questions remain over the case of Chinese competitors who failed doping tests, urging transparency from authorities.

The New York Times reported in April that 23 Chinese swimmers, two of whom competed against Ledecky and her US teammates in Tokyo, had tested positive for a banned substance just seven months before the Covid-delayed 2021 Games in Japan.

None of the swimmers were suspended or sanctioned after the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) accepted the conclusion of Chinese authorities that the case was caused by food contamination at a hotel where they had stayed.

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Wada's stance has been strongly criticised by a number of leading swimmers, including seven-time gold medallist Ledecky, who said previously that her faith in the anti-doping system was at an "all-time low".

Ledecky said there were issues still to be resolved when asked at a USA swim team press conference if she felt races at the 2024 Paris Games would be fair.

"I hope everyone here is going to be competing clean this week. But what really matters also is, were they training clean?" she told reporters.

"Hopefully that's been the case. Hopefully there's been even testing around the world. And I think everyone's heard what the athletes think. They want transparency. They want further answers to the questions that still remain."

Ledecky said that the anti-doping process was not an issue that athletes should have to concern themselves with.

"At this point, we're here to race. We're going to race whoever's in the lanes next to us and we're not the ones paid to do the testing," she said.

"So we hope that the people that are, follow their own rules. And that applies now and into the future. And we want to see some change for the future so that you don't have to ask us that question."

Ledecky said it was important to remember why athletes are tested outside of competition time.

"I think if you're trying to get an advantage, you can do it any time. So if people are training with things in their system that shouldn't be in their system, then they're getting an advantage," she said.

"That's why we're tested frequently, randomly. Our whereabouts, you know, we have to keep them up to date constantly when we're training, when we're here, all that. So we're following all those rules.

"Again, all that we ask is that those rules are being applied fairly and consistently worldwide."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has backed Wada after a report said it had not mishandled the Chinese case.

The support from the IOC came after strongly worded attacks from Travis Tygart, the head of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), who accused the body of covering up the Chinese cases.

The dispute between Wada and US authorities was an issue during Wednesday's IOC session in Paris.

The IOC handed the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City but warned it could be stripped of the Games if US authorities kept up their feud with Wada.

John Coates, the chairman of the IOC's legal commission, said the host city contract confirming Salt Lake's right to stage the Games had been altered to allow the IOC to remove the Games if US authorities did not respect the "supreme authority" of Wada.

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AFP

Published: Wed 24 Jul 2024, 6:46 PM

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