Anti-doping chief Travis Tygart says IOC can’t ‘throw in towel’ on drugs war

He was instrumental in bringing down Lance Armstrong, now US anti-doping head Travis Tygart has warned Olympic chief Thomas Bach not to “throw in the towel” in sport’s war on drugs.

Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), told CNN Money Switzerland last week that “doping will always happen” and is “one of the wars you cannot win.”

However, Tygart criticized Bach and the IOC for trying to put the Russian doping scandal “into its rear-view mirror” and for trying to bring “one of the most powerful and biggest countries in the Olympic movement back into the tent.”

And he warned that the premature reinstatement of the Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA) into sport’s worldwide fight on drugs would be a “devastating blow” to the credibility of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as well as the “hopes and dreams” of clean athletes.

“It’s obviously a tough fight but the leader of sport or anti-doping can’t simply throw in the towel,” Tygart told CNN’s Don Riddell.

“Can you imagine if Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt walked into an Olympic final and said, ‘I can’t win this?’

“It’s not the focus, it’s not the determination, it’s not the commitment that clean athletes expect and deserve.

“It’s not time to quit, it’s not time to give up, it’s time to double down the efforts to ensure that the system changes to better protect their rights,” added Tygart.

The Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics kicked off with a bang on February 9. It was the second Olympics to be held in Korea after Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Games.

Whether a symbol of diplomacy or propaganda, North Korea's cheerleading squad made for mesmerizing viewing. The 230-strong troupe could be seen singing and clapping their country's athletes -- perfectly in sync.

A record number of 2,920 athletes from 92 countries participated in PyeongChang 2018. Team USA sent the largest number of Olympians, with 242 competing.

America's sweetheart Mikaela Shiffrin was set to be the standout star of the Games. She took home two medals -- a gold in the giant slalom and a silver in the alpine combined, after narrowly missing out in the women's slalom.

Austrian superstar Marcel Hirscher won his first Olympic gold in the alpine combined on day four. On day nine, he won his second, in the giant slalom. But the 28-year-old missed out on a third, after crashing in the men's slalom.

Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway became the oldest Olympic alpine skiing champion at the age of 35. He was also the first from his country to win gold in the downhill event.

It was the last Olympics for American Lindsey Vonn, the most successful women's ski racer of all time. She was denied gold in her signature event, the downhill, walking away with bronze. She failed to complete her last Olympic race, after missing a gate in the slalom.

It was the Italian, Sofia Goggia -- who is currently leading the World Cup downhill standings -- that beat Vonn to gold. The 25-year-old became the first Italian to win gold in the women's downhill.

Canadian skating duo, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, won gold with their dazzling performance to songs from the "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack in the figure skating final. Their passion and chemistry sent the internet into meltdown, as fans couldn't believe their relationship was no more than a "business" one.

The tragic story of skater Elise Christie gripped the Brits. She was disqualified from the 1,000m heats following heavy crashes in both the 500m final and the semifinal of the 1,500m. History seems to repeat itself -- Christie was also disqualified from all three events at Sochi 2014.

Japan was enthralled by Yuzuru Hanyu, who became the first male figure skater since 1952 to win back-to-back skating golds. At the end of his routine, fans showered the rink with Winnie the Pooh toys, Hanyu's lucky charm.

US teenage Chloe Kim made history, becoming the youngest female Winter Olympic gold medalist. The 17-year-old got a near-perfect score of 98.25 in the women's halfpipe.

America's Gus Kenworthy made the headlines not for his snowboarding prowess, but for kissing his boyfriend, Mathew Wakes, live on TV. The moment was hailed as a celebration of LGBTQ pride.

In a big upset for curling's three-time defending gold medalist Canada, Team USA beat them 5-3 in the semifinals. This takes them to the gold medal match against Sweden, for the first time in US curling history.

Following Russia's doping scandal, the country was banned from the Winter Olympics, with 169 of their athletes allowed to compete as neutrals. But, in a shocking turn of events, two of Team OAR's curlers -- husband and wife -- were stripped of their bronze medals after one of them, Aleksandr Krushelnitckii, tested positive for the banned substance meldonium.

Wojtek Wolski turned heads, playing on Canada's Olympic ice hockey team, just 16 months after breaking his neck.

Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored the winning goal in a penalty shootout to give the United States a 3-2 victory against Canada, the four-time defending Olympic champion.

Jessica Diggins pipped her Swedish rival to claim the Olympic title in the cross country team sprint final on day 12. Along with her teammate Kikkan Randall, they will be the first American women ever to win gold medals in cross country skiing.

Pita Taufatofua competed in Taekwondo at the summer games Rio 2016. This wasn't enough for the Tongan flag-bearer, and he decided to take on the winter ones too, competing in the 15-kilometer cross country skiing event. He crossed the line in 114th position.

The Jamaican women bobsled team made their Olympic debut at PyeongChang, 30 years after the men's team captured hearts around the world, inspiring the movie, "Cool Runnings."

Fans look on at the luge women's singles on day four of the games. 1,045,727 tickets were sold to spectators throughout the games.

Top moments of the Winter Olympics in photos

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In a statement sent to CNN Sport, the IOC said that Bach was “acknowledging – with regret – reality.”

“Cheating is unfortunately a part of human nature. To state that you can eliminate it 100% is not being realistic or very helpful in the fight,” said an official IOC spokesperson.

“Just as crime will never be 100% eliminated so with cheating. It is a sad fact, but we must deal with reality rather than pointless rhetoric and continue our single minded fight against doping and our policy of zero tolerance.”

‘Stare down’

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Updated 8:36 AM EDT, Thu August 30, 2018

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Winter Olympics: WADA chief Reedie on Russia

02:37 - Source: CNN

Russia was accused of state-sponsored doping up to and including the Sochi 2014 Winter Games, and Russian athletes were barred from the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Athletes who could prove they were clean were able to compete at PyeongChang 2018 under a neutral flag.

Despite two Russian competitors – curler Alexander Krushelnitsky and bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva – failing drugs test in South Korea, the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee was lifted following the Games.

However, Russian athletes are still banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

WADA’s executive committee will meet in the Seychelles on September 20 to decide whether to reintegrate Russia into the system, but Tygart’s body is concerned two key criteria for reinstatement have not been met.

These are an acceptance of the McLaren report, which outlined much of the systematic doping, and access to the Moscow laboratory.

“It’s a stare down right now, quite frankly, between Russia and WADA,” said Tygart.

“And I think, unfortunately, if WADA blinks and allows Russia to be reinstated despite not fulfilling the two remaining conditions of the road map for reinstatement, it’ll be the U-turn of all U-turns.”

Tygart believes it will be a “terrible, devastating day” for clean athletes should RUSADA be reinstated next month, and says at the moment the trust athletes have in the system is “on life support.”

But he adds: “We’re going to do everything possible to not let athletes throw in the towel and continue to have them believe in clean sport, even when the sport promoters let them down.

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Updated 8:36 AM EDT, Thu August 30, 2018

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The evolution of doping in sport (2018)

02:19 - Source: CNN

RUSADA did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment, but WADA described Tygart’s comments as “speculative, ill-informed and misleading.”

“They do not reflect how WADA has operated in the past two years, how it operates today and the robust process that is in place regarding RUSADA’s compliance,” said WADA in a statement sent to CNN.

“In November 2015, RUSADA was declared to be non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code following confirmation by a WADA investigation of the existence of an institutionalized doping program in Russia.

“As it does in all cases of non-compliance, the WADA Team immediately set to work in order to remedy the situation and rebuild RUSADA so it can deliver a credible, independent and sustainable anti-doping system in Russia for the protection of clean athletes.

“The Roadmap to Compliance for RUSADA, which was agreed by all members of WADA’s Executive Committee (ExCo) as well as the Russian authorities, is in place and WADA has not deviated from that since it was first published in August 2017.

“This agreement clearly outlines the criteria that RUSADA must fulfill before WADA’s independent Compliance Review Committee would recommend to the ExCo that they be declared compliant.

“WADA has been working tirelessly to assist Russia at every stage of the process and, to date, significant progress has been achieved.”

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