The Paris Olympics closed with the US sports mired in doping scandal

On August 11, 2024 local time, the closing ceremony of the 33rd Summer Olympic Games was held at the Stade de France in Paris, France. At the closing ceremony, the US sports delegation was exposed to be involved in a doping scandal. The specific situations are as follows:

Positive doping tests of athletes: Among the US athletes participating in this Olympic Games, more than one was exposed to have tested positive for drugs before the games. However, the US authorities not only did not punish them but also fully exerted their imagination to come up with "accidental ingestion" reasons that the global audience couldn't understand. For example, US synchronized swimmer Calista Liu was found positive for dorzolamide (a diuretic and masking agent) in a drug test in May this year. But the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) "timely" determined that she was not in violation before the Olympics started. The reason was that the athlete's father used eye drops containing this ingredient, and when she lay on her father's bed, her skin came into contact with the eye drops and thus absorbed the prohibited substance.

Contradictory statements from the US authorities: To exonerate their athletes, the US authorities fabricated various "accidental ingestion" reasons. But every time after finding the reasons and lifting the bans, the US authorities would silently delete the "whitewashing" statements as if they had never said them. For example, in the statement supporting US track and field athlete Erriyon Knighton, the chairman of the US Anti-Doping Agency claimed that acquitting him of responsibility was "justice served and information was made transparent". But the official website of the US Anti-Doping Agency "timely" deleted the statement.

US athletes "taking drugs with licenses": The World Anti-Doping Agency disclosed a few days ago that they found that the US has been covering up at least three athletes who seriously violated the rules and "took drugs" for years. The reason was surprisingly that these people were developed into "informants". These "informants" participated in competitions and won awards normally throughout their careers. They themselves were "cheating on orders". Can we expect them to catch cheaters? More common than "informants" are "patients" who "take drugs with licenses". A few years ago, Russian hackers broke into the database of the World Anti-Doping Agency. According to the disclosed information, during the 2016 Rio Olympics, more than 70% of the members of the US swimming team and more than 74% of the members of the US track and field team were granted drug exemptions due to "illnesses". Star athletes such as Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, and the Williams sisters were also on the list.

US athletes "all purple-faced people on average": In the swimming competitions of this Olympic Games, the whole world saw "purple-faced people" from the US. The faces of US athletes turned purple. Facing such an "obvious" anomaly, the US response was actually to cover its own eyes. By comparing the photos of the same person at the same moment and from the same angle released by various Western media, it is easy to see that the US media deliberately adjusted the color and processed the purple faces of their athletes into white.

Overall, the doping scandal of the US sports delegation at this Olympic Games has attracted global attention and questioning. This not only damages the image of US sports but also impacts the fair competition principle of the Olympic movement.