Wednesday April 21, 2021
Doping hunter demands transparency
“Olympia 2016 must not repeat itself”
Olympic sport relies on the work of anti-doping agencies. Who is being tested where and when is public but not visible. USADA boss Travis Tygart wants a database that shows in real time which samples are being analyzed. There is approval and skepticism from Germany.
Travis Tygart, managing director of the US anti-doping agency USADA, would like the publication of worldwide test statistics. “All countries should publish the exact number of tests that were carried out with the names of the respective athletes in real time,” the 50-year-old told Sport Bild.
“The world anti-doping agency WADA has this data. It could publish it. We think that it would only be fair – especially with regard to the corona situation and the doping scandal in Russia,” said Tygart: “Because only like that we will all regain confidence in the athletes and the controls that are carried out around the globe. “
Especially with a view to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, this is necessary: ”We all fear a great unknown, because unfortunately it is not public who and how often is controlled worldwide,” said Tygart: “One thing is certain: What we will do at the 2016 Games in Rio, must not repeat itself again. At that time there were 1913 athletes in the ten sports with the highest doping risk who had no control before the games. That something like this should happen is completely unacceptable. “
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) welcomed the initiative in response to a SID request, as the push for more transparency. However, the publication of personal data must always be measured against the requirements of applicable law. In Germany and Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation sets the rules for this. “A public assignment of doping controls carried out to personal data is therefore not easily possible,” said NADA.
In this context, Tygart is particularly critical of the participation of Russian athletes in Tokyo. Russia has “already polluted the Olympics in 2012 and 2014”. 2021 would be “the fifth games to pollute the Russians – and this scandal over the Russian state doping system is still going on,” said Tygart: “You can still get away with it. You will celebrate successes and no one knows how clean these really are but we should finally know. “
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