Russian doping probe is ‘defining moment’ for sport, says U.S. boss

An independent investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) into claims of systematic doping among Russian athletes may prove to be a turning point for all sports, according to the chief of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Speaking at a high-level doping conference in Singapore on Wednesday, Travis Tygart said the commission would not have been formed if there weren’t some facts to back the allegations against Russian athletes.

And that’s why it’s a defining moment, if not the defining moment, where a country that’s alleged, along with its anti-doping organisations, its lab, other sport federations, of doping its athletes in order to win on the world stage.

USADA chief Travis Tygart

Russian sports officials have denied the dopingallegations, which were aired in a German TV documentary but have not been independently verified, of widespread doping and corruption in Russia, despite a recent spate of positive tests. Tygart, the former lawyer turned anti-drugs crusader who helped unmask American cyclist Lance Armstrong’s long drug use, said getting to the truth of the matter would give clean athletes around the world who are otherwise being held to the highest standards.

Sports Doping