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Senator wants WADA explanation in Russian doping case

USA TODAY Sports

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee is pressing the World Anti-Doping Agency to explain why it delayed an investigation into allegations of systematic cheating by the Russian Olympic team.

In a seven-page letter sent Monday to agency’s president, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said a robust and sound anti-doping agency is indispensable to fairness in sports and the health and safety of athletes.

Yet the agency’s response to reports of an “elaborate state-sponsored doping program in Russia” call the agency’s strength and credibility into question, he told Sir Craig Reedie, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s president.