US Must Give the World an Explanation for Widespread Doping

The 2024 Paris Olympics are currently at the halfway point. There is also an undercurrent surging on and off the field. U.S. media and American institutions have been concocting false narratives and accusing athletes from other countries of doping violations while at the same time the U.S. protects and shields its own athletes who test positive for banned substances. This is another instance of applying double standards and politicizing and weaponizing sports.

The World Anti-Doping Agency issued a statement on Aug. 7 noting that in at least three cases since 2011, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has exempted athletes who used steroids and erythropoietin from charges and penalties and allowed them to continue competing. The statement pointed out that this is a clear violation of WADA's rules, which are aimed at protecting the integrity of sports competitions, undermines fairness and jeopardizes the safety of the athletes involved.

Meanwhile, a global online poll conducted by China Global Television Network reported that 95% of respondents strongly condemned the U.S. and its despicable tactic of using sports as a pretext to suppress its opponents, criticizing the practice as an example of U.S.-style hegemony and a case of trampling on the Olympics. Some 96% of respondents believe the U.S. has no respect for WADA and is challenging its fairness and authority, while 96% called on all countries to abide by the Olympic spirit, jointly uphold the authority and impartiality of international sports organizations and foster a fair, competitive environment.

These statements and calls have confirmed the serious problem of large-scale, organized and systematic doping in U.S. sports and also show that the international community can see clearly that the United States is crying wolf and will do anything it can to maintain its dominant position. Looking back, it is not difficult to see that the United States deliberately began to set the tone a few months before the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games. The USADA and the press, including The New York Times, said in April that Chinese swimmers were found to be positive for the banned substance trimetazidine in 2021 but were not punished. Since then, the United States has continued to play up the issue despite objective and fair investigation results by two authoritative organizations, the World Swimming Federation and WADA. The U.S. also subsequently called out the executive director of the World Swimming Federation over the “doping incident" and threatened to investigate WADA. A small group of U.S. members of Congress recently proposed a new bill threatening to withhold financial support for WADA. The International Olympic Committee has expressed its clear dissatisfaction with the United States’ approach, even warning that it would consider canceling the right of U.S. cities to host the Olympics.

The United States has a track record of using underhanded tactics in the field of international politics whenever it can’t compete. It is now applying such practices to competitive sport. This not only violates the Olympic spirit of fair competition but also shows great disrespect to all those clean athletes who have worked hard. Some in the United States talk about rules in international settings, but what they actually mean are U.S. rules.

The United States has escalated its policy of all-out containment and suppression of China in recent years. Speculating about supposed doping incidents and smearing both Chinese athletes and the Chinese nation have also become part of the strategy. The United States has always claimed to be the master of the sports world and considers competitive sports to be an important part of its soft power. In recent years, as China and other countries have continued to raise the level of competition, the competitive advantage of the United States in traditionally strong areas such as track and field and swimming has diminished or been overtaken, causing chronic anxiety for some athletes in the United States.

For example, in the men’s 4x100 meter medley relay final of the current Olympic games, the Chinese team won the gold, ending 40 years of U.S. dominance in the event. Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle won the men’s 100-meter freestyle final by a huge margin, triggering an outpouring of comment in the West. Some in the United States increasingly use alleged doping issues to hinder athletes from other countries and interfere with their athletic performance.

Public reports claim that between the start of January and the eve of the Paris Olympics, the Chinese swimming team was tested by anti-doping organizations on average 21 times per swimmer, far more than the six times per swimmer for the U.S. team and four times per swimmer for the Australian team. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said that the Chinese swimmers were fully tested, while WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald believes that “certain individuals [in the U.S.] are attempting to score political points purely on the basis that the athletes in question are Chinese. The result is that it has created distrust and division within the anti-doping system."

Ironically, just when the United States is attacking athletes from other countries for doping, events have exposed its usual double standards. In March, U.S. Olympic athlete Erriyon Knighton tested positive for steroids but the USADA contended this was caused by consumption of contaminated meat and therefore decided not to ban him from competition, allowing him to compete in the Paris Olympics.

In the past, many U.S. track and field athletes who have won Olympic gold medals have tested positive for banned substances, but, shielded by the United States, have either kept their good name or received lighter penalties. The United States turns a blind eye to its own long-standing bad practices in anti-doping, yet tries to overstep the mark and regulate other countries. The international community widely resents such double standards.

U.S. domination must not taint the Olympic spirit, and should not reduce anti-doping efforts to being a tool used to discredit and suppress other nations. The appropriate agencies should conduct independent investigations into the United States covering up serious violations of the World Anti-Doping Code. To restore the confidence of athletes around the world in fair competition and to make the Olympic movement clean and safe once again, the U.S must stop its long-arm jurisdiction, face up to its own issues and account for widespread doping.