Shadows of a dark past still can’t be entirely overlooked as another Olympic Games arrive upon us. As swimmers from all four corners of the world gear up to bring glory to their respective countries, the doping scandal that has been rocking the community in recent months continues to cast a daunting frown. With the USA being one of the top contenders for the women’s relay gold this time once again, team captain Katie Ledecky hopes a similar controversy won’t become a nagging affair this time around.

The stances taken by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after the Chinese team’s doping allegations came to the fore were slammed by swimmers everywhere for their lackluster approach to the whole fiasco. Now, as Ledecky returns to the big stage for a fourth time, the Stanford graduate still seems to have her concerns.

During a press conference ahead of the Paris Olympics, uploaded by Reuters on YouTube, the 27-year-old swimming icon expressed concerns about how the screening process has been handled by the WADA leading up to the Games. “I hope everyone here (in Paris) is going to be competing clean this week,” Katie stated. “…what really matters also is: Were they training clean? Hopefully, that’s been the case. Hopefully, there’s been even testing around the world,” the seven-time Olympic gold medalist went on to say as she noted how the global swimming fraternity has made its feelings about giving the Chinese stars a leeway in Tokyo three years ago clear: “They want transparency. They want further answers to the questions that still remain.”

However, Katie still has her eyes on the goal, as she went on to say: “At this point, we’re here to race. We’re going to race whoever is in the lane next to us.” At the 2020 Olympics, the USA’s women’s team came in second in the women’s 4x200m free relay, while the Chinese team bagged the gold. Naturally, Katie’s botheration isn’t misplaced.

However, even though Katie is fixated on showing up with a stern face, keeping her quivering heart about how things will play out in the coming days can be a difficult task, which even she admits.

Katie Ledecky isn’t all rainbows and unicorns for the Paris Games

In an article by USA Today from May, Ledecky revealed how troubling thoughts are always a factor in the back of every swimmer’s head. “It’s hard going into Paris knowing that we’re gonna be racing some of these athletes,” the swimming sensation was quoted saying as she declared to have an “all-time low” confidence in WADA’s anti-doping policies following what happened at the 2020 Olympics. Even though the anti-doping apex body claimed that the trimetazidine found in the blood samples of the 23 Chinese swimmers in Tokyo was the result of contamination that spread from the hotel kitchen, not everyone was convinced by the response.

Travis Tygart, the CEO of the USA’s anti-doping agency also slammed the WADA for letting the issue slide without being more strict about competing nations adhering to the rules. “Our hearts ache for the athletes from the countries who were impacted by this potential cover-up,” Tygart stated later, as WADA continued to deny the allegations. On the other hand, Ledecky said that some accountability would help her and other Team USA swimmers “regain some confidence in the global system“. Ledecky’s lack of faith was also backed up by Michael Phelps, who was spotted last month at Capitol Hill as he was seen meeting with US Representative Andre Garbarino to talk about the Chinese controversy.

With so many icons of the sport trying their best to reduce doping-related issues ahead of the big rumble, will Katie get to compete in an even playing field this time in Paris? What do you think? Tell us in a comment below.