USADA Results Management | Fair Process in Clean Sport

JEFF COOK, USADA General Counsel:

Clean sport is vital to everything we do here at USADA. Every athlete has the right to compete in sport free of the influence of performance-enhancing drugs. Unfortunately, there are people out there who will use performance-enhancing substances to gain an unfair advantage that they couldn’t obtain through training alone. And so, at USADA we diligently investigate and pursue evidence of anti-doping rule violations. And results management is the name that we give to the procedures that ensure a fair and just process for athletes who are alleged to have committed an anti-doping rule violation. It’s how we go from a positive test, or other evidence of an anti-doping rule violation, to an announcement or other resolution of the case. Our goal is to efficiently and effectively handle cases, and this process allows for athletes, or athlete support personnel, to make their arguments and present their evidence. Athletes can provide information to USADA that explains how they tested positive at any time. And USADA will use that information to then assess how to resolve their case in a proportional way. There are many ways in which the Code allows for USADA to have flexibility in determining the fair and proportional sanction. And we often look at the athlete’s degree of fault when assessing what sanction to propose to resolve the case. Transparency of the process and deterrence are key aspects of the results management process, and publicly announcing sanctions is vital to the deterrence element. When athletes see that their fellow competitors are being sanctioned and that there is testing going on at all levels of competition, they will think twice about using performance-enhancing substances that are prohibited. Our goal is to fairly and effectively resolve the cases, respecting the rights of those who’ve been charged, while also respecting the rights of athletes who are entitled to compete in sport free of any influence of performance-enhancing drugs.