An Olympic-sized fight erupts among anti-doping officials, and it's just getting started

PARIS (AP) — The stream of threats, recriminations and anti-doping innuendo flowed freely again Thursday when tensions over a US law designed to combat drugs in sports escalated on the eve of the Paris Olympics.

It's a fight that's been simmering for a decade, sparked by Russia's brazen doping scandal at the Sochi Olympics. The reaction from the World Anti-Doping Agency and IOC was criticised as too weak by many, including the United States. So much so, that the US passed a law in 2020 giving federal authorities power to investigate sports doping and cover-ups.

After details emerged about 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance - Chinese authorities blamed it on contamination from a hotel kitchen - but none were suspended and some went on to win medals at the Tokyo Olympics, the US launched an investigation.

The latest round of backlash played out in a trio of news conferences in Paris, the highlight of which came when leaders at WADA suggested they might sanction one of their biggest critics, the US Anti-Doping Agency, over the law.

"As a global regulator, one of our duties is to make sure our stakeholders are following our regulations and rules, and that the national legislation is in accordance with the world anti-doping code," WADA president Witold Banka explained.

While some tried to calm things down, others could see a worst-case scenario: that the US not be allowed to host big-time events such as the Olympics in the future.

Banka's statement came a day after the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City, but cast a pall over that celebration by extracting a promise that organisers pressure US lawmakers to scuttle the law, along with a related investigation into the Chinese doping case.

Chances of that are slim — the American Congress passed that bill in 2020 without a dissenting vote — so another strategy would be to go after USADA.

If WADA determines the law, called the Rodchenkov Act, doesn't adhere to the rules, it could start the process of finding USADA in noncompliance.

That, in turn, could trigger sanctions, which can jeopardise America's ability to host international events.

It's the same treatment WADA handed to Russia's anti-doping agency during that country's long-running drug scandal.

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