The bias shown against non-Western athletes who have performed well exposes the hypocrisy of anti-doping standards, according to French experts, who cited the historical examples where competitors from the United States were not punished after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Recent reports have revealed that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has been allowing athletes who have violated doping regulations to go undercover and keep on competing in exchange for information of other violators, with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issuing a statement declaring this practice as a blatant violation of both the WADA code and the USADA's own regulations.
With the controversy coming to light while the now-concluded Paris Olympics were taking place, the debate threatened to overshadow the sporting action in the French capital.
Veteran sports doctor Jean Pierre de Mondenard, who has over half a century of experience in anti-doping efforts, said there has been a history of drugs misuse by American athletes and noted a widespread problem back in the 1980s, when U.S. athletes were heavily using stimulants. He cited the infamous example of sprinter Carl Lewis, who was allowed to keep his 100m gold at the Seoul Olympics 36 years ago despite having tested positive for a banned substance on three occasions, which came after the original winner Ben Johnson of Canada was stripped of the title for a doping violation.
"The United States invented anabolic steroids at that time. In the training center in the U.S., there was a big bowl full of colorful pills in the locker room, and the athletes took a bunch of them. That's why they dominate the world in throwing events and in track and field events: they were all taking anabolic steroids. In 1988, Carl Lewis tested positive three times before the Seoul Olympics, but he was not punished. He gave the excuse that he 'accidentally took the product.' The Americans covered it up. This is common," he said.
The issue over apparent double standards was thrust into the spotlight just prior to the start of the Paris Games, when World Aquatics, the governing body of global water sports, revealed that anti-doping organizations had tested each Chinese swimmer an average of 21 times since the start of the year, compared to an average of just six times for American swimmers and four times for Australians.
Amid the highly competitive sporting environment, Western countries see breakthroughs made by non-Western athletes as a threat against their own dominance, and therefore question these achievements, exposing a widespread and unfair bias against other successful competitors, a sports and political expert from a French think tank said.
"In Western countries, there is a tendency among politicians and public opinion to stigmatize athletes from non-Western countries who perform very well. This means that when non-Western athletes perform well, they are seen as a potential threat, and their performance is seen as so-called 'unnatural'," said Lukas Aubin, head of the Sport and Geopolitics Programme under French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS).
Hypocrisy of anti-doping standards exposes bias against non-Western athletes: French experts
Hypocrisy of anti-doping standards exposes bias against non-Western athletes: French experts
