Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), appeared to concede defeat in the war on doping based on comments in a recent interview. Bach said the war on doping was unwinnable and “doping will always happen” in an interview with Martina Fuchs for CNN Money Switzerland on August 21, 2018.
“Doping will always happen,” Bach admitted in a moment of honesty. “This is one of the wars you cannot win.”
Bach’s comments were met with widespread condemnation from anti-doping crusaders around the world particularly within the United States. Travis Tygart, the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), interpreted the comments as a sign that the IOC has given up its fight against doping.
“It’s obviously a tough fight but the leader of sport or anti-doping can’t simply throw in the towel,” Tygart said in an interview with Don Riddell of CNN. “Can you imagine if Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt walked into an Olympic final and said, ‘I can’t win this?’
“It’s not the focus, it’s not the determination, it’s not the commitment that clean athletes expect and deserve. It’s not time to quit, it’s not time to give up, it’s time to double down the efforts to ensure that the system changes to better protect their rights.”
The IOC pushed back against Tygart. The IOC defended Bach’s position as one that best reflected the reality of the doping situation. It also took an indirect shot at Tygart by criticizing his “pointless rhetoric” as “not being realistic or very helpful”.
“Cheating is unfortunately a part of human nature. To state that you can eliminate it 100% is not being realistic or very helpful in the fight,” said the IOC spokesperson. “Just as crime will never be 100% eliminated so with cheating. It is a sad fact, but we must deal with reality rather than pointless rhetoric and continue our single minded fight against doping and our policy of zero tolerance.”