Justice Department opens a criminal probe of the Chinese Olympic doping scandal
The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into a sports doping scandal involving nearly two dozen elite Chinese swimmers.
The Justice Department, which rarely comments on ongoing investigations, told NPR in a statement that "the FBI does not confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation." But two international sports organizations have confirmed to NPR that a criminal probe is underway.
In May, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers called for an investigation. "It is imperative to assess whether these alleged doping practices were state-sponsored," they said in a statement.
One focus of the probe appears to be on the World Anti-Doping Agency, known as WADA. The agency reviewed repeated positive tests for two banned substances by some elite Chinese swimmers over a period of years. But it kept results of the tests secret, and the athletes were allowed to compete in 2021 at the Tokyo Summer Games.
Chinese swimmers will compete in Paris
Eleven of those Chinese athletes have now qualified for China’s national team and are expected once again to swim head-to-head against U.S. athletes at the Paris Olympics.
World Aquatics, which governs international swimming competitions, said in a statement to NPR that its executive director, Brent Nowicki, has been subpoenaed "by the United States government" to testify in the case. "He is working to schedule a meeting with the government, which, in all likelihood will obviate the need for testimony before a grand jury," said the World Aquatics statement.
WADA also issued a statement saying it handled the Chinese drug tests properly and was "disappointed" by the probe.
The organization, headquartered in Montreal, Canada, accused U.S. officials of exceeding their authority in the case. "The United States purports to exercise extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction over participants in the global anti-doping system," said WADA's statement.
News of the positive test results first became public in April of this year.
The revelations sparked international condemnation of WADA, Chinese authorities and their decision to keep the doping cases under wraps.
'People are just getting away with everything'
WADA, meanwhile, says it chose to accept the Chinese government's explanation that repeated positive tests for performance enhancing drugs by top swimmers were the result of accidental contamination.
U.S. drug testing experts and many American athletes have rejected those explanations.
Testifying last month before a U.S. House committee, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps called for major reforms to the international system designed to catch athletes who use drugs to cheat. "Right now people are just getting away with everything," Phelps said. "How is that possible? It makes no sense."
Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which monitors and penalizes American athletes if they cheat, testified that WADA has failed for years to properly punish Chinese and also Russian sports teams that regularly use performance-enhancing drugs.
"Russia and China have been too big to fail in [WADA's] eyes and they get a different set of rules than the rest of the world does unfortunately," Tygart said.
Transcript
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into a sports doping scandal that involves nearly two dozen elite Chinese swimmers. Lawmakers in Congress have been calling for an investigation after revelations this spring that the world's leading antidoping organization kept positive drug tests secret. NPR's Brian Mann reports.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: When U.S. swimmers arrive in Paris later this month, they'll face a Chinese national team that includes 11 athletes now confirmed to have tested positive for banned substances. At a congressional hearing last month, veteran Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps said the international system for catching and banning cheaters who use drugs is broken.
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MICHAEL PHELPS: Like, right now, people are just getting away with everything. And how is that possible? This makes no sense.
MANN: The World Anti-Doping Agency, known as WADA, now acknowledges its officials secretly reviewed positive drug tests for banned substances involving 23 Chinese swimmers. Those results were never made public. The athletes were allowed to keep competing, some winning gold medals at the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Yesterday, WADA officials issued a statement saying the U.S. has opened a criminal investigation into the organization's handling of the case. Another organization called World Aquatics, that governs most international swimming competitions, also issued a statement, telling NPR its executive director has received a subpoena to serve as a witness in the case and is negotiating to avoid appearing before a grand jury. The Justice Department declined to confirm an investigation is underway. Representative Kathy Castro of Florida is among the lawmakers who have been urging the DOJ to investigate WADA. She spoke at a hearing last month.
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KATHY CASTOR: We need to know, is it worse than that? Is the Chinese Communist Party or the People's Republic of China paying WADA to look the other way? Why were the required procedural steps not followed?
MANN: WADA officials say they're disappointed by the U.S. decision to open a criminal probe. Since the scandal broke, WADA's president, Witold Banka, has said the organization did nothing wrong. Here he is speaking at a press conference in April.
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WITOLD BANKA: At every stage, WADA followed all due process and diligently investigated. If we had to do it over again now, we would do exactly the same thing.
MANN: WADA officials say they stand by their decision to accept the Chinese government's explanation that the positive drug tests were caused by accidental exposure to banned chemicals. The statement issued yesterday described the DOJ's criminal investigation as a misguided overreach that exceeds U.S. jurisdiction. But many U.S. athletes say WADA needs to be investigated and reformed. Allison Schmitt is a veteran Olympic swimmer who lost a gold medal to Chinese athletes implicated in the doping scandal at the 2021 Summer Olympics. She spoke at the congressional hearing last month.
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ALLISON SCHMITT: There is no trust. What we ask for is that trust for accountability and transparency.
MANN: This controversy continues to widen just three weeks before the opening ceremony in Paris.
Brian Mann, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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