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Local Olympic Medalist Ledecky Calls for More Olympic Sanctions and Protections against China and Russia's athletes

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Robert Weiner
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By: Robert Weiner, Jonathan Person, and Dr. Patricia Berg

All-time great Olympic swimmer and Maryland native Katie Ledecky, who has already won the most ever women's swimming golds and medals, sharply criticized Olympic inaction on China and Russia doping and worries about the impact on the results. Given the ongoing cheating, she stated last month that "it doesn't seem like everything was followed" on the lack of any administrative punishment, and that there must be more sanctions and protections against China and Russia. She asserted, "Our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low." She is calling for more Olympic sanctions and protections against China and Russia's athletes given their states' ongoing drug cheating.

Ledecky is a famous local voice for the state. Her mother, her mentor and fellow swimmer, is also local. We hosted Ledecky's news conference luncheon at the National Press Club in DC, where she announced that she would be going pro, accompanied by her family.

The Olympic Torch will arrive in Paris for the opening ceremony on July 26, officially starting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. At this point, it seems that China and their Olympic athletes will be allowed to compete at the Games, despite the recent probe finding that 23 Chinese athletes tested positive for prescription drug Trimetazidine, known as TMZ, in 2021. 13 of these accused athletes went on to compete in the delayed Tokyo games, with some bringing home medals in the process. Ledecky felt this first hand, as two of the swimmers that tested positive for the drug went on to beat her at an event in Tokyo. This probe tracks rather similar to Russia's run-in with anti-doping. However, the recent sanctions imposed on Russia made their athletes compete as the Olympic Committee, not members of a Russian team. While this punishment has been seen as being lenient by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it has led to questions as to why China has not faced any punishment, even one similar.

When the fairness can be questioned, the problem brings up an interesting view from the perspective of an athlete who will again compete for the top spots in Paris in July. For athletes like Ledecky, the recent Olympic inaction settling for a China probe, as well as Russia's recent ban from full Russian government branding of athletes but allowance under the Olympic flag, are not enough. The IOC and the U.S. Olympic Committee must demand WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) adherence to their rules and follow through with punishment if needed.

According to WADA, who helps the IOC, an "investigation" was conducted by the Chinese authorities. In the end, WADA reported that the findings led to no need for further investigation. This is in stark contrast to cases that have involved TMZ use, and recent investigations by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), one of which saw a multi-year ban handed out to top US swimmer Madisyn Cox for her use of the drug.

Another opinion that brings interesting light on the subject is a quote from local expert Dr. Lisa Delphy Neirotti. At a recent luncheon and Q&A in front of the George Washington University Heritage Society, Dr. Delphy Neirotti was asked how she felt about the continuing cheating of Russia and China as well as how she felt about the previous anti-doping sanctions hurled at Russia, and in turn the lack of any for China. In short, she stated that what is happening is wrong, and has been going on for years, and in turn needs to be addressed properly. This is an interesting topic to look into and it seems to be barreling towards a potentially telling conclusion in the next summer months.

Dr. Delphy Neirotti's stance is interesting when looking at her position within GWU and her relationship with the Olympics. At GWU, she is the director of the Sports Management program and is an associate professor for sports management at the George Washington School of Business (GWSB). Delphy Neirotti is a long time collaborator with the Olympic Organization, having conducted economic and market research studies for the Games. If anyone would have a reason to defend both WADA and the Olympics or refuse to answer the question, it would be here. One may have expected Delphy Neirotti to dodge the issue and the question at hand. However, she has shown that she is willing to take a moral stand against the lack of investigation and accountability from certain nations to keep illegal performance enhancers out of sports. Her stance echoes what can be seen through the actions of USADA and what is missing in the recent response from WADA.

All of this leads to questions on what China as well as Russia truly hope to gain from cheating. While it is known that doping will seep into highly competitive sports, why is there a lack of self policing by China and Russia? It is safe to assume that even without giving themselves a competitive edge through doping, both nations would still be near or at the top competitively. The sheer financial investment alone by both nations should keep them competitive. Why take the risk of being caught, if there is seemingly little to gain? This could be similar to the recent World Cup in 2018, where Russia was simply able to pay their way to hosting the tournament. Russian President Putin said that soccer's head, Sepp Blatter, "should get the Nobel Prize", but instead Bladder was indicted for corruption.

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