Why Norwegian politician is athletes’ choice to wage war on doping

Linda Helleland

30 November 2018

The Moscow laboratory which sparked the Russian doping crisis finally opened its doors to the World Anti-Doping Agency on Wednesday.

It is the same vicinity from which former laboratory chief Dr Grigory Rodchenkov destroyed 1,417 samples when investigators — at the behest of former WADA president Dick Pound — visited the lab back in 2015 as the extent of the Russian doping scandal was first laid bare.

Both Rusada, Russia’s anti-doping organisation, and WADA have made early positive noises about full access being possible and thereby meeting the December 31 deadline set for Rusada’s reinstatement back in September to remain in place. WADA president Sir Craig Reedie said it was “almost inconceivable that we don’t complete this project in time” but Linda Helleland, Reedie’s would-be successor at the head of the anti-global fight, remains unconvinced. “I hope Sir Craig’s right,” she said. “But I need to see it and see that we have access to the data before I’m satisfied.”

Reedie’s term ends next November and an election for his successor is due to take place. That is expected to be a formality, however, with WADA’s preferred candidate being announced in May. Helleland, Poland’s Witold Banka and Marcos Diaz, from the Dominican Republic, are the three names in the frame, with one more candidate likely to come from Asia.

Helleland, a WADA vice-president, was one of only two members of its executive board to vote against Rusada’s reinstatement and she said: “There’s nothing more I hope for than that they [Russia] will fulfil [their obligations] but we need to see it before we believe it. How Rusada handles this situation is crucial.”

The Norwegian politician’s reticence is understandable over a city where double Sochi Olympic bobsleigh champion Alexander Zubkov last week had those two golds reinstated in court, even though such a ruling does not stand in the eyes of either the International Olympic Committee or the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

At a time where public confidence in WADA is arguably at rock bottom, Helleland is seen by many — athletes in particular — as the voice needed for change.

So is she the woman to rescue WADA? “Yes I am,” she said. “I wouldn’t stand [for election] otherwise. I wouldn’t run if I didn’t feel that.”

Helleland attended the White House last month with British cyclist Callum Skinner and then UK Sports Minister Tracey Crouch to call on WADA to reform in the global anti-doping fight. “The athletes are the No1 stakeholder for WADA,” she said. “They need to be put first. They’re the ones that are affected by doping. Athletes are speaking up like never before and the anti-doping community needs to listen.”

Helleland wants athlete representation and influence — most notably voting power — on WADA’s executive board, and admitted: “We need to get back that credibility of the sport. When athletes tell me they don’t believe in the athlete community anymore, that trust in WADA isn’t the same as before, I feel worried. When my kids ask why I’m going to the White House and doing so much for WADA, I tell them I want them to have the possibility to compete fair. They love fair sport and I want to give them that gift.”

She has pegged back her previous criticism of WADA and refused to be drawn on recent allegations by the organisation’s former chief investigator Jack Robertson that athletes had been betrayed by the agency. “What I’m talking about is the protection of athletes,” she said.

“If athletes want a more transparent president, I will do my best.”

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Why Norwegian politician is athletes’ choice to wage war on doping

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