WADA statement on New York Times article

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) notes today’s New York Times article alleging that anti -doping data related to athletes going to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games may not have been properly reviewed by WADA prior to the Games. 

Despite WADA having provided the New York Times with the facts, the article contains allegations that are simply wrong. They stem from leaked information connected to an internal technical WADA meeting held in May 2024, between the Agency’s Legal Affairs and IT Departments, concerning data being migrated from an old Results Management system [called LRM] into a new system [called RMC].  The May meeting was held to discuss the difficulties with the migration and issues that the Legal Affairs Department was having in navigating the RMC and finding the data within it.  

Contrary to what the New York Times alleges, the technical challenges faced by this data migration did not have any negative impact whatsoever on the Paris 2024 Olympic or Paralympic Games. The complete data was accessible at all times and all data related to athletes going to Paris were properly reviewed by WADA. 

All data was still up to date and housed within the old system, LRM, as well as in the Anti-Doping Administration Management System [ADAMS]. For the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, using a combination of RMC, LRM and ADAMS, all the data from those athletes on the Olympic and Paralympic Games shortlists were thoroughly reviewed. Both the LRM and RMC are internal systems designed to assist Legal Affairs in its Results Management work – the data available in those systems come from ADAMS and also include all information received from Results Management Authorities by Legal Affairs.  

As was the situation with the New York Time’s reporting on the Chinese swimming cases, instead of following the facts, it has once again opted to be misled by sources with questionable motives as part of a defamation campaign against WADA.