WASHINGTON (AP) The president of the World Anti-Doping Agency says his organization didn't immediately investigate allegations of systematic cheating by the Russian Olympic team because it lacked the authority to conduct such an inquiry.
Sir Craig Reedie tells the Republican chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee in a letter released Friday that the agency's investigative powers were expanded early in 2015.
That's five years after Sen. John Thune of South Dakota says the agency was made aware of allegations of widespread government-sanctioned doping among Russian athletes.
Thune's committee released Reedie's July 5 letter.
The senator wrote to Reedie last month and asked him to answer a series of questions about the Russian doping scandal.
Thune says the response to the Russian doping program has called the agency's strength and credibility into question.
