Dramatic twist as Aussie threatens to strip America of the Olympics

In a dramatic twist, America was awarded the next Olympic Games - and then immediately threatened by Australia’s John Coates.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City on Wednesday but warned they could be stripped of the Games if US authorities kept up their feud with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The success of Salt Lake City’s bid was a foregone conclusion given the Utah city, which hosted the Games in 2002, was the only candidate to stage the winter sports spectacular.

But in a dramatic twist shortly before members approved the bid by 83 votes to six, Olympic chiefs said the Games could be revoked if US politicians and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) were not brought into line.

Australia’s John Coates, the chairman of the IOC’s legal commission, said the host city contract confirming Salt Lake’s right to stage the Games had been altered to allow the IOC to remove the Games if US authorities did not respect the “supreme authority” of WADA.

Coates said it was “a must, and I stress the word must” for the US authorities to respect WADA.

“The IOC has reinforced the current language of the Olympic host contract in order to protect the integrity of the international anti-doping system and to allow the IOC to terminate – to terminate - the Olympic host contract in cases where the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency … is not fully respected or if the application of the World Anti-Doping code is hindered or undermined,” Coates said.

Australia’s John Coates (right) during the 142nd session of the IOC in Paris on July 24. (Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP)

USADA has been a vocal critic of WADA for much of the past decade, and those tensions have escalated this year after reports in April revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but were subsequently cleared to compete at the Games.

USADA chief Travis Tygart accused WADA of covering up the cases, which China blamed on unintentional food contamination.

WADA has angrily rejected the criticism from USADA, threatening legal action against the body.

But Tygart isn’t back down, releasing an angry statement lashing the conditions of the agreement for Salt Lake to host in 2034.

“It is shocking to see the IOC itself stooping to threats in an apparent effort to silence those seeking answers to what are now known as facts,” he said.

“It seems more apparent than ever that WADA violated the rules (over the Chinese swimmers) and needs accountability and reform to truly be the global watchdog that clean athletes need.

“Today’s demonstration further showed that as it stands today, WADA is just a sport lapdog, and clean athletes have little chance.”

Multiple Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky also said Wednesday that questions remain over the case.

The New York Times reported in April that 23 Chinese swimmers, two of whom competed against Ledecky and her US teammates in Tokyo, had tested positive for a banned substance just seven months before the Covid-delayed 2021 Games in Japan.

Katie Ledecky speaks to the press on Wednesday, July 24. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Members of the Salt Lake delegation celebrate being awarded the 2034 Games. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

None of the swimmers were suspended or sanctioned after WADA accepted the conclusion of Chinese authorities that the case was caused by food contamination at a hotel where they had stayed.

WADA’s stance has been strongly criticised by a number of leading swimmers, including seven-time gold medallist Ledecky, who said previously that her faith in the anti-doping system was at an “all-time low”.

Ledecky said there were issues still to be resolved when asked at a USA swim team press conference if she felt races at the 2024 Paris Games would be fair.

“I hope everyone here is going to be competing clean this week. But what really matters also is, were they training clean?” she told reporters.

“Hopefully that’s been the case. Hopefully there’s been even testing around the world. And I think everyone’s heard what the athletes think. They want transparency. They want further answers to the questions that still remain.”

Ledecky said that the anti-doping process was not an issue that athletes should have to concern themselves with.

“At this point, we’re here to race. We’re going to race whoever’s in the lanes next to us and we’re not the ones paid to do the testing,” she said.

“So we hope that the people that are, follow their own rules. And that applies now and into the future. And we want to see some change for the future so that you don’t have to ask us that question.”

The IOC has backed WADA after a report said it had not mishandled the Chinese case.

The Olympics were last held in Salt Lake City in 2002, when Steven Bradbury shocked the world. Picture: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Germany to bid for 2040 Olympics

The German government said Wednesday it wanted the country to host the 2040 Summer Olympics, picking a date that avoids a centennial reference to the edition held in Nazi Germany.

Berlin and several other German states had previously mulled a bid for the 2036 Games, 100 years after the capital hosted the 1936 edition, which became known as the Nazi Games.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government is eyeing another date.

“The federal government favours the year 2040 for the Games in Germany – 50 years after German reunification (in 1990),” said the government, which has signed a memorandum of understanding with the German Olympic Sports Federation and interested regions and cities.

The anniversary year was a chance to show “what values our liberal democracy stands for”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in the statement.

Germany, which recently staged the men’s European football championships, was a “great host for international sporting events”, Faeser said.

Germany’s bid would “use existing sports facilities in various cities – without building new stadiums for a lot of money”, Faeser added.

Among the memo’s signatories were Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich, as well as the regions of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria.

The government said it would back the bid with almost seven million euros ($7.6 million) of funding between 2024 and 2027.

Germany’s previous experience with hosting the Summer Olympics ended badly. Germany last hosted the event in Munich in 1972, which was overshadowed by a hostage crisis and a subsequent massacre of Israeli athletes.

- with AFP

Originally published as Dramatic twist as Aussie threatens to strip America of the Olympics