The senior leadership of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) concluded meetings Wednesday during which the organizations discussed their partnership in the efforts to curb doping in Olympic sport in the United States.
“I’m pleased to be in Colorado Springs to meet with Terry Madden of USADA and Jim Scherr of the USOC, and their staffs, to discuss our continued efforts to prevent doping in sports,” said Scott Burns, ONDCP Deputy Director of State and Local Affairs. “We all share the same goals of protecting athletes’ health and ensuring the integrity of athletic competition. Society has an interest in promoting participation in sports because they are healthy and contribute to young people’s development. Doping directly undermines the benefits that athletics provide. The work that USADA and the USOC are doing to prevent doping in sports is not only helping to make athletes more healthy and keep competition fair, but it is also helping keep youth who look up to these athletes from using drugs. ONDCP, USADA and USOC will continue to work together to ensure that athletics are about healthy and fair competition, and not about which athlete has the best chemist.”
“Both the ONDCP and USOC have been instrumental in the USADA’s progress in becoming one of the most respected national anti-doping agencies,” said Madden, USADA Chief Executive Officer. “Our research and educational programs are made possible through the funding we receive from the U.S. federal government and the USOC. The U.S. federal government helped make possible our initial youth education program, and we look forward to a long relationship with the ONDCP and USOC in our mission to eliminate the practice of doping in sport and to preserving the well-being of sport.”
“The health and well-being of our Olympians and Paralympians as well as that of all American athletes is a priority at the United States Olympic Committee,” said Scherr, USOC Chief of Sport Performance. “We also are committed to doing everything we can to ensure fairness on all fields of play. The USOC values its strong relationship with the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and we will continue to work closely with these organizations to eradicate doping in sport. Today’s meetings underscore our continuing commitment to support the World Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Code.”
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