Opinion
Forget poos in the Seine. Doping is the biggest concern at the Olympics
Andrew Webster
Chief Sports WriterHow did the heart medication get into the spice rack?
How did the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) get into air vents and drains and other parts of the kitchen at the Huayang Holiday Hotel in Shijiazhuang then presumably into the food and therefore the bodies of 23 Chinese swimmers before their Olympic trials in 2021?
Until we know the answer to these questions – and we probably never will – how can anyone have confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s ability to keep sport clean?
Don’t worry about the occasional Bondi cigar floating down the Seine alongside the marathon swimmers and triathletes at the Paris Games: of greater alarm should be how dirty the competition will be.
In 2021, China’s anti-doping agency, CHINADA, attributed the failed drug tests to contamination from the hotel’s kitchen, which WADA oh-so-quietly accepted until a joint investigation from The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD brought the story to light in April this year.
If that wasn’t bad enough, WADA also accepted Chinese authorities failing to place a provisional ban on the athletes nor conducting a hearing into the matter.
Drugs, not poo, will be the big issue in Paris.Credit: Simon Letch
Australia was outraged. The US was outraged. The world was outraged. WADA told us there was nothing to see here and threatened to sue everyone.
On Wednesday, an independent report cleared the agency of mishandling or showing bias in the case of the Chinese swimmers, who were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Games, some of whom won gold medals.
Yet the report from Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier could shed no light on the one thing we are desperate to know: how did the performance-enhancing drugs get into the frikkin’ spice rack?
Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chair of the US Congress subcommittee examining WADA’s competency, also wants to know.
“The banned drug, which is only available in pill form, somehow ended up in the kitchen of a hotel the swimmers were staying at,” she said last month, adding that WADA “somehow concluded this explanation was plausible.”
How? Instead of raising questions or at the very least having suspicions about how this sort of contamination could possibly occur, WADA unequivocally accepted China’s explanation.
Which is all well and dandy until you’re standing on the blocks in Paris, looking across at the competitor next to you, wondering what secret herbs and spices might have sprinkled on their dinner the night before.
There have been questions about WADA’s competency on a range of matters for some time. It’s not until a dogged media organisation investigates that we seem to know about the depth of drug cheating in some countries.
It was the New York Times – again – that uncovered systemic Russian doping at the Winter Olympics in 2014 in Sochi after Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, the director of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory from 2005-15, claimed he helped dozens of Russian athletes with a cocktail of banned substances.
A rescue boat cruises on the Seine river near the Eiffel Tower during a rehearsal for the Paris 2024.Credit: AP
More recently and closer to home, Australian middle-distance runner Peter Bol’s reputation was trashed last year after he was provisionally suspended for having elevated levels of EPO in his system.
He was eventually cleared with Sports Integrity Australia (SIA) admitting the test was a “false positive”.
Federal sports minister Anika Wells said WADA, of which she is an executive committee member, would review its EPO testing procedures.
After the curious case of the heart medication in the spice container, WADA might need to review far more than that.
Greyhound industry’s gone to the dogs
With the absolute greatest of respect … is Greyhound Racing NSW kidding?
Eight years after then NSW Premier Mike Baird shut down the industry, then backflipped after meeting with Alan Jones in his apartment at The Toaster, the regulator’s former chief vet has claimed in a handover paper that serious animal welfare concerns remain.
So far, premier Chris Minns has resisted calls to ban the sport as Baird did, instead opting for an inquiry.
It seems like the sensible thing to do considering there are hundreds of participants who do the right thing – and whose livelihoods would be taken from them if a ban was put in place.
Nevertheless, if the inquiry reveals the same widespread flaws from eight years ago, the state government has little choice but to set the dish-lickers free.
Disclaimer: a greyhound bit me on the arm on my first day as a cadet reporter in the Hunter Valley. He won his next three races.
Middo tips Maroons to get rub of the green
Apart from free food and an easy scoop, there are few greater joys for a rugby league hack than bumping into Channel Nine stats guru David Middleton and asking for a killer fact for an upcoming match.
And so it was that I asked Middo to give me one for next Wednesday’s rather exciting State of Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium.
Look away now, Blues fans.
Of the 60 Origins played between NSW and Queensland at Lang Park/Suncorp Stadium, the Blues have won the penalty count just nine times … Nine!
Michael Maguire’s men might feel like they have the ascendancy after their smash-up job at the MCG in game two, but it’s always a different ball game in BrisVegas … especially if history repeats and the referee blows the proverbial pea out of his whistle.
Arnold honoured, Warren done dirty
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold was earlier this week recognised with the renaming of a suburban Sydney oval in his honour.
The Sylvania field was previously called Canberra Road Oval but is now Graham Arnold Oval, a much-deserved recognition of his career as a player and coach.
We can only hope, though, that Arnie’s sign is given greater respect and prominence than the one at Johnny Warren Field at Booralee Park in Botany.
The Socceroos great, who honed his skills at the ground as a youngster, was recognised in 2007 with a sign – three years after his passing after a long battle with cancer.
Photos sent to us from a concerned local show the sign is filthy with dirt and mud and also obscured by two large wheelie bins.
The sign at Johnny Warren Field in Botany.
This is not good enough. Hopefully, Bayside Council will bring the sign back to its former glory and move the wheelie bins somewhere else.
Hannay speculation wide of the mark
Did Parramatta change their minds about who would be their next coach?
Last Friday, all the talk was Cronulla assistant coach Josh Hannay would be given the job of leading the Eels to the promised land of an NRL premiership.
Then, on Monday, Storm assistant Jason Ryles was named as coach.
Ryles told those close to him at the weekend that he feared he’d missed out.
We’re assured there was no backflip and that people were merely speculating on who would get the nod.
People speculating? In rugby league? I’m stunned.
It remains unclear if interim coach Trent Barrett will be on Ryles’ coaching staff, despite the likes of halfback Mitchell Moses pleading for him to stay.
Remember, Barrett was Ryles’ captain at St George Illawarra for eight years.
Meanwhile, forget all this gibber about NSW winger Zac Lomax changing his mind on his deal with the Eels.
He hasn’t tried to back out of it at any stage, according to his management, thereby allowing him to next year take a $200,000-a-year pay cut to play in his preferred position of centre despite playing the best football of his career on the wing.
Makes sense to me.
THE QUOTE
“At the moment, I don’t think that is going to happen, but anything can happen.” – Australian Olympic chef de mission Anna Meares is kinda confident triathlon and marathon events on the Seine won’t be abandoned because of water pollution. And if it is? Games organisers will literally be up shit creek without a paddle … I’m here all week.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves after suffering a head injury against St George Illawarra.Credit: NRL Photos
THUMBS UP
Your humble correspondent was sitting in the southwestern corner at Allianz Stadium on Sunday when Roosters veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves left the field with blood rushing down his face after an accidental shot from teammate Connor Watson. The crowd stood as one and roared their approval, which prompted Jared to smile and then roar back at them. It was a thing of beauty.
THUMBS DOWN
Boxing promoter No Limit has done an impressive job in resuscitating the sport in this country, but it undoes the good work when it allows 47-year-old former AFL star Barry Hall to get belted into the middle of next week by 26-year-old former NRL plodder Curtis Scott. The fight was called off before the end of the first round. Yuck.
It’s a big weekend for … the Wallabies, as they look to go click-clack-back-to-back against Wales in the second Test at AAMI Park on Saturday night. Early days, we know, but things are looking decidedly better under new coach Joe Schimdt.
It’s an even bigger weekend for … England, who meet Spain in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on Monday morning following a dramatic 2-1 win over the Netherlands in injury time. After being booed by their own fans for most of the tournament, England are now poised to win their first major trophy since 1966.
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