A San Jose native and Olympic determine skater shared an open letter Monday calling out international anti-doping authorities for “failing athletes” as Workforce USA has waited greater than 18 months for the silver medal it received on the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Vincent Zhou, who was born in San Jose and grew up in Palo Alto, wrote within the letter that members of the American group have but to obtain their silver medals 595 days after capturing second place in Beijing. A listening to within the doping case that prompted the delay is scheduled for this week.
The holdup started when the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) canceled the unique medal ceremony as a result of a optimistic drug check by Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old skater from the first-place Russian Olympic Committee group.
“The IOC assured us that they’d do their utmost to verify it was resolved as shortly as attainable,” Zhou wrote.
Valieva examined optimistic for trimetazidine, a coronary heart treatment that’s banned throughout competitors. It will’ve ordinally nullified the Russians’ gold medals instantly, Zhou wrote, however as a result of Valieva was solely 15, the Russian Disciplinary Anti-Doping Fee (DADC) determined that totally different guidelines apply.
Within the 19 months which have adopted, Workforce USA skaters have heard “virtually nothing” from the officers dealing with the case, Zhou mentioned.
“Now we have no motive to imagine that our pursuits are being adequately represented,” he mentioned. Zhou additionally famous that he and his teammates have been harmed economically — “sponsors love medals” — however that his main concern is the method utilized by directors.
This week, a listening to is scheduled on the Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that can embody the IOC, the World Anti-Doping Company (WADA) and the Russian Anti-Doping Company (RUSADA) going in opposition to Valieva and the Russian DADC.
“The concept such a listening to will serve the pursuits of unpolluted athletes is absurd,” Zhou wrote. “The Russian ‘Anti-Doping’ Company has been facilitating Russian doping for over a decade.”
Valieva and her teammates had been already competing underneath the Olympic flag due to sanctions positioned on Russia within the wake of prior doping revelations.
Zhou mentioned the IOC has not held Russia accountable for the doping program that he estimates concerned greater than 1,000 athletes.
“My teammates and I are conscious of widespread doping by different Russian skaters,” Zhou added.
Reached Monday, an IOC spokesperson mentioned that the group shares the frustration of the athletes.
“We wish competitors outcomes to be ultimate at Video games-time in order that athletes can benefit from the glory of the second throughout the Video games,” a spokesperson wrote to the Bay Space Information Group. “Because of this the IOC can be very annoyed in regards to the present state of affairs. However the IOC doesn’t stand above the legislation and has to respect the legislation and the rights of each particular person in addition to respective courtroom selections. From the outset, the IOC has been pushing for a swift resolution and hopes that after this listening to the CAS resolution will observe shortly. The IOC will then implement the choice.
“As a reminder, the IOC appealed to CAS following the choice of the RUSADA Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee to carry the provisional suspension of Ms. Valieva. This enchantment was joined by WADA and ISU. The enchantment was dismissed, and this is the reason the athlete was allowed to compete within the Ladies’s Single Skating competitors.”
Zhou mentioned the Workforce USA athletes requested to watch this week’s listening to, however had their request denied.
“Unsurprisingly, they selected to behave with impunity and to keep away from public accountability,” he mentioned.
Zhou expressed shock and frustration that Russian athletes haven’t but been excluded from the Olympics as a result of ongoing doping allegations.
“As my group’s empty medal packing containers present, the worldwide anti-doping system is failing athletes,” he mentioned. “Justice delayed is justice denied and my teammates and I’ll by no means get again the possibility to face earlier than the world to have fun a lifetime’s value of exhausting work culminating in a career-defining achievement.”
In accordance with the BBC, CAS is not sure when the outcomes of the listening to shall be launched.
