Let me make a practical contribution to address your questions below. I hope you find this response helpful. This is largely my personal understanding of the different organizations, so it may not be entirely accurate. I have the same question -- what is WADA going to do that USADA hasn't already done? Armstronglivs suggests the focus of the investigations will shift to the athletes, uncovering things that didn't surface with a focus on Salazar. This doesn't seem likely with respect to the L-Carnitine infusions, and allegations of testosterone administration to NOP athletes, particularly to Rupp, but who knows, maybe these and other allegations were not investigated enough to include NOP athletes. With respect to jurisdiction, it gets a little murky understanding when IOC is in control, versus the international IAAF, versus national USATF/USADA (or UKA/UKAD for Mo). With respect to IOC, they are generally in charge of the Olympics, not only track and field, but all Olympic events, including conducting anti-doping. If Mo Farah was caught doping at the Olympics, this would be the responsibility of the IOC, and not the IAAF, USADA or UKAD. I don't believe USADA or WADA could order sample retests of samples collected at the Olympics, without IOC approval. But the IOC would not be involved in IAAF events, like Diamond League, or World Championships, or US track events or trials or road races. Physical samples are stored at WADA approved labs. WADA was formed as a separate entity to gain independence from the IOC. (Many question if they are truly independent when some people are in both organizations -- the Economist recently released a video highlighting this.) WADA is best seen as a standards organizations, making rules for federations, countries, athletes, and labs. They perform regular audits to make sure WADA labs are compliant. Doping investigations is a new role for them, starting with investigating allegations of IAAF inaction to suspicion blood data, and including bribery/extortion of Russian athletes. With respect to historical anti-doping results, all of the relevant anti-doping data is entered into a WADA database (ADAMS), and as such, WADA would have access to all of the data that USADA could see with respect to US athletes subject to USADA. It's not clear to me if that includes foreign athletes training in Portland, but I assume so, and if not, WADA would be able to see that data.
practical questions wrote:
Baltsu wrote:
WADA can re-test the samples. Those samples are good for 8 years and they have done that kind of tests for example regarding the medalists in Peking 2008. So WADA can re-test all the samples of the NOP athletes that are still available.
Is that something that USADA couldn't request? Does WADA have physical control over these samples?
For some reason I thought the IOC had jurisdiction, but I admit I get confused about these issues sometimes.