Could a doping investigation deprive Salt Lake City of the 2034 Olympics? The IOC president says this is unlikely

PARK CITY, Utah — On his first visit to Utah since Salt Lake City was awarded the 2034 Winter Games, the president of the International Olympic Committee sought to allay concerns that the city could lose its second Olympics if organizers fail to honor an agreement to to play peacemaker between the anti-doping authorities. .

Thomas Bach on Saturday downplayed the severity of a termination clause the IOC included in Salt Lake City’s hosting contract in July, which threatens to cancel the 2034 Games if the US government does not respect “the highest authority” of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Olympic officials also received assurances from Utah politicians and U.S. Olympic leaders that they would urge the federal government to withdraw from an investigation into a suspected doping cover-up.

Utah’s bid leaders, who were already in Paris for the signing ceremony, hastily agreed to the IOC’s terms to avoid delaying the long-awaited announcement.

Bach characterized the contract language Saturday as a demonstration of the IOC’s confidence that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency will fall in line with WADA. He suggested that WADA, not the Olympic Committee, would be responsible in the unlikely event that Salt Lake City loses the Winter Games.

“This clause is advice to our friends in Salt Lake that a third party could make a decision that could impact our partnership,” Bach said.

Tensions have increased between WADA and its US counterpart as the US government has given itself more powers to crack down on doping programs at international events involving US athletes. U.S. officials have used that power to investigate WADA itself after the global regulator declined to sanction nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

With its contract curveball, the IOC sought to use its little leverage to ensure that WADA would be the leading authority on doping cases in Olympic sports when the US hosts in 2028 and 2034.

Salt Lake City’s eagerness to become a returning host — and be part of a possible permanent Winter Olympics rotation — is a lifeline for the IOC, as climate change and high operating costs have reduced the number of cities willing and is able to host the Winter Games. Utah’s capital was the only candidate for 2034 after Olympic officials gave it exclusive negotiating rights last year.

Utah’s bid leaders should have the upper hand, so why did they agree to the IOC’s demands?

Gene Sykes, chairman of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said he doesn’t view the late host contract change as a strong-arm tactic but rather a “reasonable adjustment” that won Utah’s bid and vaulted him to the top. table as a mediator between agencies.

He expects the end result will be a stronger anti-doping system for everyone.

“It would have been incredibly disturbing if the Games had not been awarded at that time,” Sykes told The Associated Press. “There were 150 people in the Utah delegation who had traveled to Paris for the sole purpose of being there when the Games were awarded. This allowed that to happen in a way that still leaves us confident that Utah is not in any real risk of losing the Games.”

“The IOC absolutely does not want to lose Utah in 2034,” he added.

Sykes is involved in an effort to help defuse tensions between WADA and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, while ensuring the U.S. remains steadfast in its commitment to the global anti-doping system that WADA administers.

The White House’s own director of national counternarcotics policy, Rahul Gupta, sits on WADA’s executive committee, but the global agency this month tried to ban Gupta from meetings on the Chinese swimmers case.

According to Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City bid committee, no friction between regulators and government officials has been felt at the local level. His decades-long friendship with Bach and other visiting Olympic leaders was on full display Saturday as he toured the Utah Olympic Park in Park City.

“There is no suspense — just excitement about the future of the Games and the beautiful locations and people of Utah,” Bullock told the AP. “We are 100%.”