Michael Phelps, others to testify about frustrations in anti-doping system

In testimony they will give before Congress on Tuesday, Olympians and the leader of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency express frustration at the current anti-doping system.

Michael Phelps is among five who will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. The hearing, Ways to Improve and Strengthen the International Anti-Doping System, comes as the sport and anti-doping world have dealt with a Russian doping scandal that has led to repeated calls for change.

“Throughout my career, I have suspected that some athletes were cheating and in some cases those suspicions were confirmed,” Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals, wrote in his witness statement.

“I can’t adequately describe how frustrating it is to see another athlete break through performance barriers in unrealistic time frames, knowing what I had to go through to do it. I watched how this affected my teammates too. Even the suspicion of doping is disillusioning for clean athletes.”

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Shot putter Adam Nelson, who was re-awarded Olympic gold from the 2004 Games in Athens more than a decade later, will also testify before the subcommittee.

In his witness statement, Nelson tells his story of winning the silver medal only to learn he would receive gold after Ukraine's Yuriy Bilonoh was stripped of his title for a doping violation in 2013.

Nelson supports a series of reforms that anti-doping leaders agreed to in Copenhagen, changes that include eliminating conflicts of interest in anti-doping governance, strengthening investigative and compliance abilities for the World Anti-Doping Agency and increased protection for whistleblowers.

“You cannot change the culture from the top down only,” Nelson wrote. “You have to engage the athletes. I ask as an athlete, an Olympic gold medalist, and someone personally and financially impacted by doping in sport that you consider clean athletes as a shared owner in this all important fight.”

Travis Tygart, CEO of USADA, is scheduled to testify, along with International Olympic Committee medical and scientific director Richard Budgett and WADA deputy director general Rob Koehler.

In his statement, Tygart echoed the criticisms he has levied throughout the Russian doping scandal.

Two investigations commissioned by WADA revealed widespread doping in Russian sport, with the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, top sport officials and even the Federal Security Service working over years to subvert anti-doping controls.

The findings led the International Association of Athletics Federations to ban the Russian team from the Rio Olympics, one that remains in effect and is expected to extend through this year’s world championships.

Tygart again asserted that the IOC missed an opportunity to send a clear message in banning Russia from Rio when it opted to delegate decisions on eligibility to international federations charged with using IOC criteria.

He argues anti-doping would be would be stronger if sport organizations, including the IOC, removed themselves from the process and adequately funded anti-doping efforts.

“Sport involvement in these critical anti-doping functions is a glaring conflict of interest, and we know from experience that it’s too much to expect any organization to effectively promote and police itself,” Tygart wrote.

“That’s what’s so frustrating for us at USADA and for the athletes we serve. The solutions are relatively easy, but the will to implement what should be uncontroversial solutions has been absent from those claiming to have zero tolerance for doping in sport.”

In their statements, Budgett and Koehler highlighted their support of anti-doping reforms. In particular, Koehler said WADA plans to grow its investigative department from two to six people, will launch a whistleblower program “in the coming days” and has launched an audit program into at least 10 National Anti-Doping Organizations or international sport federations this year.