USOC leader: Flawed anti-doping system needs attention

The leader of the U.S. Olympic Committee says the latest anti-doping headlines make it "increasingly difficult to defend the current system."

In a wide-ranging interview Friday with The Associated Press, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun spoke about America's preparation for the Rio de Janeiro Games — plans being jarred by ongoing concerns about the Zika virus, along with a growing feeling among U.S. athletes that not everybody will be on a level playing field when the Olympics start in August.

Last week, The New York Times published a story detailing former Moscow lab director Grigory Rodchenkov's elaborate plans to ensure drug-using Russian athletes would not test positive at the Sochi Olympics by replacing their dirty urine samples with clean ones previously collected.

A different commission released a report last year detailing a state-sponsored doping system inside Russia used to benefit its track team.

At a WADA meeting last week, officials reported that because the Russian anti-doping agency was taken over by independent managers, testing in the country has decreased by more than two-thirds, with doping-control agents being harassed in some cities and the Russian government often balking at paying bills to run the revamped agency.

Among those weighing in after reading Blackmun's comments was Sarah Konrad, an Olympic biathlete and cross-country skier who is chair of the USOC athletes' advisory council.