SCOTT SLAMS LACK OF ACTION FROM ANTI- DOPING BODY
As chair of the World AntiDoping Agency athletes’ commission, Beckie Scott is charged with speaking on behalf of those who compete for medals without performance- enhancing drugs.
On Friday, the Canadian issued a desperate call to expand the scope of a scathing independent commission investigation into doping in Russian athletics. It would take a naive soul, she says, to conclude the cheating started and stopped with track and field.
“WADA states clearly that it supports clean athletes,” Scott wrote in a letter to WADA president Sir Craig Reedie. “And at the moment, clean athletes are disappointed with the lack of action.”
Disappointed is a polite way of putting it.
“There’s a lot of frustration — and that’s a light use of the word,” said athletes’ commission member Lauryn Williams, of the United States. “The athletes are very frustrated with the idea they might be competing against people who knowingly did something wrong.”
The WADA athlete’s commission — with representatives from around the world — met privately this week in Canmore in the midst of a doping scandal they fear threatens the future of sports.
Based on complaints from athletes, the committee is not only calling on WADA to expand the Russian investigation beyond track and field, it also wants WADA to examine other suspect nations named in the initial independent commission report authored by Canadian lawyer Dick Pound. Those countries include Turkey and Morocco.
“Our view as a committee is that the response to date — to such an evidence- based, incriminating report — has been unsatisfactory,” wrote Scott, who had her cross- country bronze medal at the 2002 Olympics upgraded to gold after two Russians medallists failed drug tests. “The principles of fair sport are very close to our hearts. We believe that extending the mandate will be a sign of our commitment to clean sport, and a sign that the voice of the clean athlete is being heard.”
Following the initial investigation into track and field, Russia’s anti- doping lab, its anti- doping
agency and its track team were all suspended — but Russian track athletes still have a shot at competing in the Rio Olympics if the sport’s governing body, the IAAF, is convinced things are sufficiently cleaned up by May.
Meanwhile, positive drug tests continue to mount in both winter and summer sports. Earlier this week, tennis star Maria Sharapova revealed she tested positive for the heart medication meldonium — added to the WADA banned list on Jan. 1 — at
the Australian Open.
In speedskating, world champion Pavel Kulizhnikov and Olympic gold medallist Semeon Elistratov, along with figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova, tested positive for meldonium.
“I think it’s really important to remove all doubt, so we can feel comfortable with knowing who we’re competing against heading into Rio,” said Williams, a gold and silver medallist in track and a silver medallist in bobsled.
To Williams, investigating
Russian sports other than track and field is the best thing for the Russian athletes, too. Otherwise, every time a Russian wins, people will wonder if doping helped them along.
“It’s just like in places where bombings in the name of religion happen,” said Williams. “You can look at a whole culture suspiciously, and it’s not fair to them. If you’re a Russian clean athlete, you should get behind this as well.”