Although the Paris Olympics concluded on Sunday, the struggle to uphold the spirit of sports continues, with doping allegations made against some athletes.
More than one US athlete who participated in this year’s Olympic Games had tested positive for doping before the games began. However, the US delegation not only failed to penalize them, but instead came up with creative excuses to let them compete.
For example, US swimmer Calista Liu tested positive for dorzolamide during a drug test in May. Although it is used in the form of eye drops for treating glaucoma, it can also be used as a masking agent to hide the use of steroids. However, the US Anti-Doping Agency determined just before the start of the Olympics that there had been no violation, saying Liu’s father used the eye drops and she had absorbed it by using the same pillow.
US swimmer Erriyon Knighton had tested positive for a metabolite of trenbolone during an out-of-competition drug test in March, but an arbiter ruled that his positive test was “more likely than not caused by consuming” contaminated meat, clearing him for the Olympics.
Russian hackers who broke into the database of the World Anti-Doping Agency have alleged that they found over 70 percent of members of the US swimming team and over 74 percent of the members from the track and field team had been taking certain drugs for “illnesses” during the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The US anti-doping law claims jurisdiction over doping issues worldwide and various international events, yet it fails to regulate domestic leagues like the National Basketball Academy and the National Football League.
For a few gold medals, the US tries to manipulate the process. Even the US Department of Justice and FBI have put pressure on international sports organizations in this regard. For the world to regain confidence in US sports before the next Olympics in Los Angeles, the US first has a lot to explain about certain incidents during this year’s Olympics.
CHINA MEDIA GROUP