The issue of doping is omnipresent at the Olympics. © APA/afp / MIGUEL MEDINA

“High festivals of sports fraud”: The doping truth at the Olympics

The Olympic Games began in Paris a few days ago and there were already heated discussions about doping beforehand. The reason for this is the increasing lack of credibility of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Olympic Committee (IOC) in dealing with the incidents.

July 31, 2024

From: sportsnews

Looking back: At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, there were eight convictions for illegal doping during the competition. However, after the games, there were 73 more cases. 15 gold, 14 silver and 12 bronze medals had to be revoked from the athletes retrospectively. The reason for the retrospective findings is the progress in the verification methods related to doping and more intensive testing of the winners.

Shortly before the expiration of the ten-year limit after which a doping offense becomes statute-barred, the blood samples are tested again using the most modern methods. The IOC introduced this rule after the 2004 Games in Athens. The result: 118 athletes had won their medals through doping. Michael Rasmussen, a former Danish professional cyclist who himself had doped, believes that almost all endurance athletes at the time took performance-enhancing drugs.

Doping doctor Fuentes a central figure

An ARD documentary also undermined the credibility of both organizations in the run-up to the Games: The Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes was secretly filmed describing in detail his role as doping chief for the entire Spanish team at the 2004 Olympic Games in his own country.

Eufemiano Fuentes is in focus. © AFP / DANI POZO

Fuentes is said to have supplied Cayetano Cornet, the 400-meter runner and later team leader of the Spanish Olympic team, with anabolic steroids, testosterone and growth hormones as well as autologous blood doping. Fuentes' instructions from the government were allegedly: "We need medals. Do whatever you have to do, but we want medals" with the sole stipulation "No positive tests". Fuentes later also doped the German professional cyclist Jan Ulrich from 1996 to 2006, including in the Tour de France.

Allegations of state doping reignite

A recent case also casts a shadow over the thousands-year-old sporting event: New evidence incriminates WADA and the IOC, as eleven Chinese swimmers tested positive and competed in the Olympic Games in Paris. Research revealed that 23 athletes tested positive for trimetazidine in 2021, but were not banned. The Chinese claim that the drug was in the athletes' hotel food and that they were being blamed for state doping was refuted in the ARD documentary.

Serious accusations are being made against China. © ANSA / TERESA SUAREZ

As chat messages from the swimmers' environment confirm, not all of the athletes who tested positive were staying in the same hotel. The WADA then reopened the investigation into the case.

Numerous athletes and national anti-doping agencies criticize the lack of transparency and fairness in the global anti-doping system. Travis Tygart of USADA emphasizes that the IOC and WADA work closely together to maintain the appearance of clean games. The FBI and the US Department of Justice are now investigating both organizations for possible cover-ups. The question remains whether the Olympic Games can break away from their image as a "high place of sports fraud."