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Travis Tygart

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Travis Tygart
Born
Travis Thompson Tygart

1971 (age 52–53)
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Education
OrganizationUnited States Anti-Doping Agency
Known forExposing the Lance Armstrong doping operation

Travis Thompson Tygart (born 1971[1]) is an American lawyer and CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). He is best known for his role in exposing Lance Armstrong's massive doping operation.

Life and career

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, he attended the Bolles School,[2] He starred on the baseball and basketball teams; on the former, one of his teammates was future Atlanta Braves star Chipper Jones.[1] He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, and in 2010 received the University's Distinguished Young Alumni Award.[3] Tygart went on to get his J.D. from Southern Methodist University in 1999, graduating Order of the Coif.[4]

Prior to joining USADA, Tygart was an athlete and associate in the sports law practice at Holme Roberts & Owen LLP (HRO). While at HRO, Tygart worked with individual athletes and the United States Olympic Committee, USA Basketball, USA Swimming, USA Volleyball, and the Pro Rodeo Cowboys' Association. Tygart is on the board of advisors of the Taylor Hooton Foundation.[5]

Tygart became Chief Executive Officer of USADA in September 2007.[6] He originally joined the agency in October 2002 as director of legal affairs, later becoming senior managing director and general counsel. He has also prosecuted cases before the American Arbitration Association and the Court of Arbitration for Sport on behalf of USADA.

Role in Armstrong doping case

Main article: Lance Armstrong doping case

Tygart had harbored suspicions about Armstrong for most of his tenure at USADA. A number of former members of Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team had been caught doping. Having learned about the doping that then ran rampant in the sport, Tygart found it hard to believe that Armstrong was clean.[1]

In June 2012, USADA accused Armstrong of doping, a charge that Armstrong ceased trying to defend in August 2012. As a result, he was stripped of all results from August 1, 1998, onward–including his seven consecutive Tour titles–and banned for life from all sports whose federations followed the World Anti-Doping Code. The latter sanction had the effect of ending his competitive career.[7][8][9][10][11] Armstrong filed a suit in U.S. District Court against Tygart and USADA. When dismissing the lawsuit against 'Defendant Travis Tygart and United States Anti-Doping Agency (collectively, "USADA")', U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote, "USADA's conduct raises serious questions about whether its real interest in charging Armstrong is to combat doping, or if it is acting according to less noble motives."[12] Tygart was previously involved in the investigation of Floyd Landis.[2] Tygart stated in an interview with French newspaper L'Équipe that he had received three death threats since the beginning of the Armstrong investigation and that security had been tightened around him by the FBI.[13]

After USADA announced that it would strip Armstrong of all his results obtained after August 1, 1998, Tygart stated in an interview with VeloNation: "He [Armstrong] knows all the evidence as well and he knows the truth, and so the smarter move on his part is to attempt to hide behind baseless accusations of process."[14]

U.S. Helsinki Commission testimony

In July 2018, Tygart testified before the U.S. Helsinki Commission in Washington, DC on the subject of doping in sports. He was on a panel alongside Jim Walden, the attorney for Russian Whistle-blower Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, Yuliya Stepanova, a former Russian track star turned whistleblower, and Katie Uhlaender, a four-time member of the U.S. Skeleton team.[15] Tygart submitted eight pages of testimony[16] and told the Commission he would continue attempting to persuade Congress to address international doping.[17]

2022 Russian doping controversy

On March 9, 2022, Tygart reported that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who was reported for doping violation at the 2022 Olympics, had not requested that her "B" sample be tested, apparently accepting the results of initial testing and relying on her explanation that the banned substance TMZ belonged to her grandfather and only accidentally contaminated or became mixed into her own use of allowed nutrients and supplements. Tygart further stated that as a minor Valieva could still be either fully exculpated or given a warning concerning her testing positive depending on the extent of findings in the on-going RUSADA investigation of doping. According to Tygart, an adverse finding against her as a first offense could still be assessed as a two year suspension, which is half of the suspension time which could be assessed for adults.[18]

Chinese swimmers controversy

This section is an excerpt from Concerns and controversies at the 2024 Summer Olympics § Chinese swimmers doping allegations.[edit]

On 20 April 2024, The New York Times revealed that 23 members of the Chinese swimming team tested positive for a performance enhancing drug called Trimetazidine seven months prior to the start of the 2020 Summer Games and were allowed to participate in the games with some of the swimmers winning medals. Following the publication of the report, Travis Tygart, CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, accused the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) of covering up doping by Chinese swimmers.[19][20] In response to Tygart's comments, WADA stated that it "stands by the results of its rigorous scientific investigation" into the case and was "astonished by the outrageous, completely false and defamatory remarks while CHINADA stated that the reports were misleading and that the doping tests they conducted only found that the swimmers had only tested extremely low concentration of Trimetazidine which was due to contamination at the hotel they were residing at that time."

WADA argued the amount detected was too low to enhance performance. CHINADA, who had reported the results to WADA and FINA (now World Aquatics), blamed them on contamination from a hotel kitchen, a rationale that potentially exempts findings from being made public.[21] WADA released a statement, explaining that "[it] was not possible for WADA scientists or investigators to conduct their enquiries on the ground in China given the extreme restrictions in place due to a COVID-related lockdown. WADA ultimately concluded that it was not in a position to disprove the possibility that contamination was the source of TMZ and it was compatible with the analytical data in the file."[22] World Aquatics's investigation agreed with WADA.[23]

After the story was leaked, WADA was criticised by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and athletes. WADA's choice of a Swiss attorney to lead an investigation into the matter also drew criticism because he was hand-picked by the agency.[24] Experts interviewed by The New York Times said trace amounts of TMZ can be detected near the end of a doping excretion period but could not rule out contamination either.[25]

In a second statement, Tygart accused both World Anti-Doping Agency and the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency for not being transparent about the findings and keeping "clean athletes in the dark". WADA was also accused of having a double-standard as Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for TMZ and used the same excuse, but was subsequently banned for four years. WADA argued, based on non-published information and pharmacokinetics, that contamination would not have been possible in Valieva's case, but in the case of the Chinese swimmers, that no international competition was occurring around the time of the positive tests, only athletes who stayed at one of the hotels tested positive, and some individuals alternated between positive and negative results all point to contamination, not doping.[26][27] On May 2024, WADA announced that it hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the doping case of the Chinese swimmers.[28][29]

Eleven of the 23 swimmers involved in the controversy were named to the 2024 Chinese Olympic swimming team.[30]

In other media

References

  1. ^ a b c Macur, Juliet (2014). Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-227722-0.
  2. ^ a b Gene Frenette (August 8, 2006). "Doping's dopes need truth serum". The Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  3. ^ Douglas Dibbert (October 5, 2010). "Two receive Distinguished Young Alumni Awards". UNC News. News Services, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  4. ^ "Board of Governors". Partnership for Clean Competition. Archived from the original on August 27, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  5. ^ "Board of Advisors". taylorhooton.org. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  6. ^ "USADA Leadership Bios" (PDF). usada.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 4, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  7. ^ Lance Armstrong (August 23, 2012). "Lance Armstrong's Statement of August 23, 2012". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  8. ^ Darren Rovell (August 24, 2012). "Lance Armstrong won't fight charges". espn.com. Archived from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  9. ^ "Lance Armstrong: US Anti-Doping Agency charges 'spiteful'". BBC News. June 14, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  10. ^ "Armstrong statement regarding USADA Charges". Yahoo!. Yahoo.com. June 12, 2012. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  11. ^ Vertuno, Jim (August 24, 2012). "Armstrong facing loss of 7 Tour de France titles". Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 27, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  12. ^ LANCE ARMSTRONG v. TRAVIS TYGART in his official capacity as Chief Executive Officer of the United States Anti–Doping Agency and UNITED STATES ANTI–DOPING AGENCY, U.S. A-12-CV-606-SS, 14 (W.D. Tex. August 20, 2012), archived from the original.
  13. ^ Bob Williams (September 24, 2012). "Travis Tygart received three death threats during Lance Armstrong investigation". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited 2012. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  14. ^ Shane Stokes (August 24, 2012). "Travis Tygart Interview: Armstrong's results from August 1st 1998 will be stripped". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Archived from the original on August 27, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  15. ^ Nuckols, Ben (July 25, 2018). "Hearing points to Vladimir Putin's role in Russian doping scandal". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  16. ^ Travis Tygart (July 27, 2018). "Helenski Commision Written Testimony" (PDF). usada.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  17. ^ "Hearing points to Putin's role in Russian doping scandal". Tampa Bay Times. July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  18. ^ "Interview with Travis Tygart (USADA, Kamila Valieva Doping, Russian Doping)". The Skating Lesson via YouTube. March 7, 2022. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  19. ^ Mann, Brian (April 22, 2024). "'Ban them all.' With Paris Games looming, Chinese doping scandal rocks Olympic sport". NPR. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  20. ^ "23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for banned substance before 2021 Olympics: WADA". ABC News. April 20, 2024. Archived from the original on April 20, 2024. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  21. ^ MacInnes, Paul (April 22, 2024). "Wada defends its actions over Chinese swimmers' doping allegations". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  22. ^ "WADA statement on case of 23 swimmers from China". WADA. April 20, 2024. Archived from the original on April 20, 2024.
  23. ^ Rieder, David (April 30, 2024). "WADA Releases Fact Sheet on Chinese Doping Violations". Swimming World News. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024.
  24. ^ Auerbach, Nicole. "Chinese doping scandal roils Olympic swimming: The latest, and what it means for Paris". The Athletic. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 13, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  25. ^ Schmidt, Michael S.; Vrentas, Jenny; Panja, Tariq (May 12, 2024). "Ahead of Olympics, World Anti-Doping Agency Faces a Trust Crisis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  26. ^ "WADA publishes Fact Sheet/Frequently Asked Questions in relation to contamination case involving swimmers from China". World Anti Doping Agency. April 29, 2024. Archived from the original on May 2, 2024.
  27. ^ "As Paris Olympics approach, concerns continue after doping watchdog cleared Chinese swimmers in 2021". CBC News. May 24, 2024. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024.
  28. ^ McCarthy, Simone (April 21, 2024). "World Anti-Doping Agency defends handling of elite Chinese swimmers who tested positive for banned drug". CNN. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  29. ^ "Wada calls extraordinary meeting over China swimmers". BBC Sport. May 14, 2024. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  30. ^ "China names 11 doping scandal swimmers in its Paris Olympics team". NBC News. June 19, 2024. Archived from the original on June 19, 2024. Retrieved June 19, 2024.

External links

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