Doping-World Anti-Doping Agency drops lawsuit against US counterpart

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(Reuters) – The World Anti-Doping Agency said on Friday it has dropped its lawsuit against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in a dispute involving 23 Chinese swimmers who failed drug tests in the lead-up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

News of the positive tests led to a war of words between the two agencies and an investigation by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, who determined that WADA had not shown “favoritism or complacency” toward China.

The swimmers were not punished after WADA accepted Chinese authorities’ explanation that they were exposed to the banned substance trimetazidine through contamination from spice containers in the kitchen of a hotel where they were staying.

USADA argued that the swimmers should have been provisionally suspended and blasted WADA for what it said was a lack of transparency around the situation.

WADA said it had filed the lawsuit against USADA and its CEO Travis Tygart to protect its reputation, but now feels vindicated by Cottier’s findings.

“In the interest of moving on and focusing our efforts on strengthening the global anti-doping system that the community has worked hard to build together over 25 years, WADA has made the decision to withdraw the lawsuit against Mr. Tygart and USADA,” WADA said in a statement.

Tygart has said in the past he was not satisfied with Cottier’s conclusions.

In a USADA statement, he described WADA’s lawsuit as “unauthorized and baseless” and claimed “complete vindication” after its withdrawal.

“It’s time for those who value clean sport to step up and get WADA right, as athletes deserve a fair, robust global watchdog to protect their rights to fair competition,” he said.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot)