Michael Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, testified at a Congressional oversight and investigations hearing on Tuesday as lawmakers discussed anti-doping measures ahead of this year’s Summer Olympics in Paris.
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Legendary Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps told a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Tuesday night that he fears the Olympics could collapse if sports doping continues.
“If we let this go any longer, we may not have the Olympics,” Phelps testified.
The session came after it emerged in recent weeks that top Chinese swimmers due to compete at the Paris Summer Olympics next month had repeatedly tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has acknowledged that several top Chinese swimmers have tested positive for two banned substances over the years.
The test results were kept secret and the athletes were cleared to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
U.S. officials said 11 of the Chinese athletes will make the Chinese national team to go head-to-head against American athletes again in Paris.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated swimmer in Olympic history with 28 medals, including 23 gold, retired after swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He told lawmakers that the international system for catching cheaters needs fundamental reform.
“People are getting away with anything now,” he says. “How is that possible? It just doesn’t make sense. I [who believes] If anyone tests positive, I want them to be banned for life.”
Oversight Hearing: “Consideration of anti-doping measures for the 2024 Olympics”
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WADA officials have denied any wrongdoing and say the Chinese athletes were mistakenly contaminated with banned substances.
Doping authorities have not clearly explained why this has repeatedly happened, and critics say WADA officials have breached international sporting rules by not disclosing the positive tests, even if they were accidental.
US lawmakers say representatives from WADA were asked to testify at yesterday’s hearing but declined.
Travis Tygart, director of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which monitors U.S. athletes and punishes those who cheat, testified that WADA has failed for years to adequately punish Chinese and Russian sports teams for regularly using performance-enhancing drugs.
“Russia and China are too big to fail” [WADA’s] “Unfortunately, they’re seeing different rules and being subject to different rules than the rest of the world,” Tygart said.
Tygart and other US lawmakers have also called for major reforms to WADA.
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were also tarnished by a doping scandal in which Russian figure skating star Kamila Valieva was allowed to compete despite previously testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Russian Olympic Committee athlete Kamila Valieva competes in the women’s free skating program during figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on February 17, 2022. Valieva was cleared to compete despite testing positive at an event prior to the start of the Winter Olympics.
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Valieva was later disqualified, but the confusion surrounding the incident has delayed the formal awarding of the team gold medal to the United States, which is finally scheduled to take place during the Paris Games, which begin on July 26.
WADA officials have rejected calls for reform and insist they have handled cases involving Chinese and Russian athletes fairly.
China’s doping scandal is deepening just weeks before athletes from around the world depart for Paris.
Allison Schmitt, a U.S. swimmer who has won four Olympic gold medals, testified Tuesday that U.S. athletes have lost confidence that this summer’s Olympics will be fair.
“There’s no trust,” Schmidt said. “What we want is trust, accountability and transparency.”
Schmidt himself swam on the U.S. relay team that lost the gold medal to China at the Tokyo Olympics.
Some of the Chinese swimmers who won that race secretly tested positive for banned substances.
Schmidt said she was troubled by the fear that she and her teammates may have been unfairly “robbed” of their Olympic gold medals.
“We just want fairness in sports,” Schmidt told lawmakers. “We want kids to be able to participate in sports knowing they’re competing on a level playing field.”
