July 8 (Reuters) – Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said on Monday he had doubts about the effectiveness of an investigation into positive drug tests by 23 Chinese swimmers.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has faced mounting pressure to explain how Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance weeks before the Tokyo Olympics but escaped punishment with some going on to win gold medals.
A report by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier looking at if proper procedures were followed by anti-doping and swimming officials is expected to be made public on Tuesday but Tygart was not waiting for the findings calling the investigation, “more of a self-serving check the box type of exercise”.
“We were ultimately glad that WADA was forced to have an independent review,” said Tygart in a video message to U.S. athletes. “We, of course, were disappointed that the very staff whose decisions in this process…
