Atits glitzy 25th anniversary gala in Lausanne in March, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) screened a slick montage highlighting how it had changed sport for the better. There were images of Muhammad Ali defying Parkinson's to light the Olympic flame and Pelé lifting the World Cup, before a history lesson - and a promise. "Today Wada is a more representative, accountable and transparent organisation," explained its director general, Olivier Niggli, "that truly has athletes at the heart of everything we do."
Not everyone in the room was buying it - one source felt it was too PR-focused, while another raised their eyebrows when Thomas Bach - the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) - and the former Wada president Sir Craig Reedie picked up awards. However, frustrations with Wada were largely limited to corridor conversations in the relative calm before the thermonuclear storm.
Everything changed last month when an ARD/New York Times investigation revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart drug trimetazidine (TMZ) before the Tokyo Olympics - only to be quietly cleared after the Chinese anti-doping agency found their hotel kitchen had been contaminated. The chief executive of the US anti-doping agency (Usada), Travis Tygart, then turned the finger of blame on Wada and the Chinese anti-doping agency, Chinada, for having "swept those positives under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world".
Tygart has form for speaking his mind-most notably on Russia - and Wada has tended to ignore him or issue an anodyne response. Not this time. It retaliated by accusing him of "outrageous, completely false and defamatory remarks".
Denne historien er fra May 10, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra May 10, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
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I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
Are smoke signals telling me to make an oil change in the kitchen?
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