Doping in Russia

Systematic doping in Russian sports has resulted in 47 Olympic and tens of world championships medals being stripped from Russian athletes—the most of any country, more than four times the number of the runner-up, and more than 30% of the global total. Russia also have the most athletes that were caught doping at the Olympic Games, with more than 200.[1]

Russian doping is distinct from doping in other countries because of the fact that in Russia steroids and other drugs were supplied to athletes by the state. Due to widespread doping violations, including an attempt to sabotage ongoing investigations by the manipulation of computer data, in 2019 the World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from all major sporting events for four years.[2]

Background: Soviet era

Moscow Olympics has been called the "Chemists' Games"

According to British journalist Andrew Jennings, a KGB colonel stated that the agency's officers had posed as anti-doping authorities from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to undermine doping tests and that Soviet athletes were "rescued with [these] tremendous efforts".[3] On the topic of the 1980 Summer Olympics, a 1989 Australian study said "There is hardly a medal winner at the Moscow Games, certainly not a gold medal winner, who is not on one sort of drug or another: usually several kinds. The Moscow Games might as well have been called the Chemists' Games."[3]

Documents obtained in 2016 revealed the Soviet Union's plans for a statewide doping system in track and field in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Dated prior to the country's decision to participate in the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott, the document detailed the existing steroids operations of the program, along with suggestions for further enhancements.[4] The communication, directed to the Soviet Union's head of track and field, was prepared by Dr. Sergei Portugalov of the Institute for Physical Culture. Portugalov was also one of the main figures involved in the implementation of the Russian doping program prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics.[4]

Timeline

Doping issues from 2008 to 2009

In 2008, seven Russian track and field athletes were suspended ahead of the Summer Olympics in Beijing for manipulating their urine samples.[5]

Multiple Russian biathletes were involved in doping offences in run-up to the 2010 Olympics.[6][7] The president of the International Biathlon Union, Anders Besseberg, said, "We are facing systematic doping on a large scale in one of the strongest teams of the world."[8]

Reviewing 7289 blood samples from 2737 athletes from 2001 to 2009, a report found that the number of suspicious samples from "Country A" notably exceeded other countries.[9] One of the authors said that Country A was Russia.[8]

In October 2009, IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss wrote to Valentin Balakhnichev that blood samples from Russian athletes "recorded some of the highest values ever seen since the IAAF started testing" and that tests from the 2009 World Championships "strongly suggest a systematic abuse of blood doping or EPO-related products".[10]

2010–2014: allegations of state-sponsored doping and 2014 ARD documentary

In 2010, an employee at the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), Vitaly Stepanov, began sending information to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) alleging that RUSADA was enabling systemic doping in athletics.[11][12] He said that he sent two hundred emails and fifty letters over the course of three years.[13] In December 2012, Darya Pishchalnikova sent an email to WADA containing details of an alleged state-run doping program in Russia. According to The New York Times, the email reached three top WADA officials but the agency decided not to open an inquiry but instead forwarded her email to Russian sports officials.[8] In April 2013, having failed a doping test for the second time (after a previous two-year doping ban in 2008–2010), Pishchalnikova was banned by the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) for ten years, in a move that was likely in retaliation. Her results from May 2012 were annulled, thus setting her on track to lose her Olympic medal.[14] British journalist Nick Harris said that he contacted the IOC with allegations about Grigory Rodchenkov's laboratory in Moscow in early July 2013.[15]

According to Stepanov, "Even at WADA there were people who didn't want this story out," but he said that a person at the organization put him in contact with the German broadcaster ARD.[11] WADA's chief investigator Jack Robertson believed that the organization was reluctant to take action and that media attention was necessary, so he obtained the permission of WADA's director-general, David Howman,[16] to approach an investigative reporter called Hajo Seppelt, who had previously reported on doping in East Germany and other countries. In December 2014, ARD aired Seppelt's documentary, "Geheimsache Doping: 'Wie Russland seine Sieger macht'" ("The Doping Secret: 'How Russia Creates its Champions'"), which uncovered alleged Russian state involvement in systematic doping, describing it as "East German-style".[17] In the documentary, Stepanov and his wife Yuliya Stepanova (née Rusanova), claimed that Russian athletics officials had supplied banned substances in exchange for 5% of an athlete's earnings and had also falsified tests in cooperation with doping control officers.[18][19] It included conversations that had been secretly recorded by Stepanova, e.g. Russian athlete Mariya Savinova saying that contacts at a Moscow drug-testing laboratory had covered up her doping.[20] Russian long-distance runner Liliya Shobukhova allegedly paid 450,000 euros to cover up her positive doping result.[18] According to the allegations, Dr. Sergei Portugalov of the Institute for Physical Culture, who stands accused of organising state-sponsored doping in the Soviet Union, dating back to the early 1980s, was also involved in the recent Russian doping programme.[4]

2015

In January 2015, then-All-Russia Athletic Federation President Valentin Balakhnichev resigned as treasurer of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).[21]

Dick Pound led the 2015 WADA investigation and became a vocal critic of the IOC's indecision

In response to the ARD documentary, WADA commissioned an investigation headed by former anti-doping agency President Dick Pound, the report of which was published on 9 November 2015.[22][23] The 335-page document, described as "damning" by The Guardian,[24] reported widespread doping and large-scale cover-ups by the Russian authorities. It stated that the Federal Security Service (FSB) had regularly visited and questioned laboratory staff and instructed some of them not to cooperate with the WADA investigation.[22]:196–197 Two staff members said that they suspected that the offices and telephones were bugged.[22]:196–197 The report recommended that ARAF be declared non-compliant with respect to the World Anti-Doping Code and that the IOC should not accept any 2016 Summer Olympics entries from ARAF until compliance was reached.[22][25]

A day later, WADA suspended the Moscow Anti-doping Center, prohibiting the laboratory "from carrying out any WADA-related anti-doping activities including all analyses of urine and blood samples".[26] On 13 November, the IAAF council voted 22–1 in favour of prohibiting Russia from world track and field events with immediate effect.[27] Under other penalties against the ARAF, Russia has been also prohibited from hosting the 2016 World Race Walking Team Championships (Cheboksary) and 2016 World Junior Championships (Kazan), and ARAF must entrust doping cases to Court of Arbitration for Sport.[27] ARAF accepted the indefinite IAAF suspension and did not request a hearing.[28] ARAF's efforts towards regaining full IAAF membership will be monitored by a five-person IAAF team.[29] On 18 November 2015 WADA suspended RUSADA, meaning that Russia does not have a functioning NADO for any sport.[30][31]

In November 2015, France began a criminal investigation into former IAAF president Lamine Diack, alleging that in 2011 he accepted a 1 million euro bribe from the ARAF to cover up positive doping results of at least six Russian athletes.[32]

2016

January to May 2016

In January 2016, the IAAF gave lifetime bans to the former head of the Russian athletics federation, Valentin Balakhnichev, and a top Russian coach, Aleksey Melnikov.[33]

In mid-January, WADA released the second report by its independent commission.[34] The following month, the United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) agency was tasked to oversee testing in Russia.[35]

Two former directors of RUSADA, Vyacheslav Sinev and Nikita Kamaev, both died unexpectedly in February 2016.[36] The Sunday Times reported that Kamaev had approached the newspaper shortly before his death planning to publish a book on "the true story of sport pharmacology and doping in Russia since 1987".[37] Grigory Rodchenkov, the director of a prominent laboratory who has been described by WADA as "the heart of Russian doping", was fired by Russian authorities and fled in fear of his safety to the United States, where he shared information[38] with the help of filmmaker Bryan Fogel, which was documented in the film Icarus.

In March 2016, German broadcaster ARD aired a documentary called "Russia's Red Herrings", alleging that athletes were alerted about testing plans and offered banned substances by individuals at RUSADA and ARAF.[39] According to a May 2016 report in The New York Times, whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov said that doping experts collaborated with Russia's intelligence service on a state-sponsored doping programme in which urine samples were switched through a hole in the laboratory's wall.[40] He said that at least fifteen medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics were involved.[40] On 19 May, WADA appointed Richard McLaren to lead an investigation into the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[41]

On 15 March 2016, The International Olympic Committee announced that they were re-analyzing stored urine samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics using more advanced analytical methods to detect banned substances that would have gone unnoticed at the time of competition. Specific sports and countries were targeted, including in particular athletes likely to compete in Rio who also competed in London 2012 and Beijing 2008. Athletes from the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics were also being targeted as urine samples can only be stored for 10 years.[42] The re-analysis programme would eventually conclude in November 2017.

Away from the Olympics, Russian heavyweight boxer Alexander Povetkin and tennis player Maria Sharapova would both fail drug tests in March and May respectively, both testing positive for Meldonium. Russian-Finnish footballer Roman Eremenko would also fail a drugs test later on in the year.

June 2016

An ARD documentary in June 2016 implicated Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko in covering up doping by a football player at FK Krasnodar.[43] In the same month, IAAF deputy general secretary Nick Davies was provisionally suspended over allegations that he took money to delay naming Russian athletes.[44] According to the BBC, emails from July 2013 showed that Davies had discussed how to delay or soften an announcement on Russians who had tested positive.[45]

In June 2016, WADA released a report stating that the work of its Doping Control Officers (DCO) had been limited by a "significant amount of unavailable athlete reports and missed tests", insufficient or incorrect athlete location information, and little information about the location or date of competitions. Some athletes named military cities requiring special permission to enter as their location and some national championships, including Olympic qualifiers, were held in cities with restricted access due to civil conflicts, preventing testing of the competitors.[46] WADA also reported intimidation of DCOs by armed Federal Security Service (FSB) agents; "significant delays" before being allowed to enter venues; consistent monitoring by security staff; delays in receiving athlete lists; and opening of sample packages by Russian customs.[46] 90% of Russian athletes did not respond or "emphatically" refused when WADA requested to interview them as part of its investigation.[47] Director general David Howman stated, "It was the very right time for those who considered themselves clean [to approach WADA]. They had nine months, plenty of time, and none came forward."[47]

On 17 June, the IAAF Council held an extraordinary meeting "principally to give the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) a further opportunity to satisfy the Reinstatement Conditions for IAAF Membership".[48] A task force chaired by Rune Andersen recommended against reinstating Russia after reporting that criteria had not been met and that there were "detailed allegations, which are already partly substantiated, that the Russian authorities, far from supporting the anti-doping effort, have in fact orchestrated systematic doping and the covering up of adverse analytical findings".[48] The IAAF voted unanimously to uphold its ban.[49]

A week later, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) decided to give a one-year ban to Russia, along with two other countries; on 3 August 2016 the IOC ratified the decision, and Russia's weightlifting team missed the 2016 Summer Olympics.[50][51]

July 2016

Headquarters of the Russian Olympic Committee in Moscow

On 18 July 2016, Richard McLaren, a Canadian attorney retained by WADA to investigate Rodchenkov's allegations, published a 97-page report covering significant state-sponsored doping in Russia.[52][53] Although limited by a 57-day time frame, the investigation found corroborating evidence after conducting witness interviews, reviewing thousands of documents, analysis of hard drives, forensic analysis of urine sample collection bottles, and laboratory analysis of individual athlete samples, with "more evidence becoming available by the day".[52]:5 The report concluded that it was shown "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Russia's Ministry of Sport, the Centre of Sports Preparation of the National Teams of Russia, the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the WADA-accredited laboratory in Moscow had "operated for the protection of doped Russian athletes" within a "state-directed failsafe system" using "the disappearing positive [test] methodology" (DPM) after the country's poor medal count during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.[54][55] McLaren stated that urine samples were opened in Sochi in order to swap them "without any evidence to the untrained eye".[52] The official producer of BEREG-KIT security bottles used for anti-doping tests, Berlinger Group, stated, "We have no knowledge of the specifications, the methods or the procedures involved in the tests and experiments conducted by the McLaren Commission."[56]

According to the McLaren report, the DPM operated from "at least late 2011 to August 2015".[52]:35 It was used on 643 positive samples, a number that the authors consider "only a minimum" due to limited access to Russian records.[52]:39 The system covered up positive results in a wide range of sports:[52]:41

  • Athletics (139)
  • Weightlifting (117)
  • Non-Olympic sports (37)
  • Paralympic sport (35)
  • Wrestling (28)
  • Canoe (27)
  • Cycling (26)
  • Skating (24)
  • Swimming (18)
  • Ice hockey (14)
  • Skiing (13)
  • Football (11)
  • Rowing (11)
  • Biathlon (10)
  • Bobsleigh (8)
  • Judo (8)
  • Volleyball (8)
  • Boxing (7)
  • Handball (7)
  • Taekwondo (6)
  • Fencing (4)
  • Triathlon (4)
  • Modern pentathlon (3)
  • Shooting (3)
  • Beach volleyball (2)
  • Curling (2)
  • Basketball (1)
  • Sailing (1)
  • Snowboard (1)
  • Table tennis (1)
  • Water polo (1)

In response to these findings, WADA announced that RUSADA should be regarded as non-compliant with respect to the World Anti-Doping Code and recommended that Russian athletes be banned from competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[57] The IOC decided to decline 2016 Summer Olympics accreditation requests by Russian sports ministry officials and any individuals implicated in the report, to begin re-analysis and a full inquiry into Russian competitors at the Sochi Olympics, and to ask sports federations to seek alternative hosts for major events that had been assigned to Russia.[58][59]

On 21 July 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) turned down an appeal by the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian athletes.[60] The following day, the International Paralympic Committee began suspension proceedings against the National Paralympic Committee of Russia.[61] On 24 July, the IOC rejected WADA's recommendation to ban Russia from the Summer Olympics and announced that a decision would be made by each sport federation. With each positive decision having to be approved by a CAS arbitrator.[62] WADA's president Craig Reedie said, "WADA is disappointed that the IOC did not heed WADA's Executive Committee recommendations that were based on the outcomes of the McLaren Investigation and would have ensured a straight-forward, strong and harmonized approach."[63] On the IOC's decision to exclude Stepanova, WADA director general Olivier Niggli stated that his agency was "very concerned by the message that this sends whistleblowers for the future".[63]

On 30 July 2016 the IOC announced that a final decision on each athlete would be made by a newly established IOC panel consisting of Ugur Erdener, Claudia Bokel, and Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr.[64]

August to September 2016

Originally Russia submitted a list of 389 athletes for the Rio Olympics competition. On 7 August 2016, the IOC cleared 278 athletes, while 111 were removed because of the scandal (including 67 athletes removed by IAAF before the IOC's decision).[65]

Yulia Efimova, who had been banned for doping, competed in Rio

Critics noted that Kuwaitis were banned from competing under their own flag (for a non-doping related matter) while Russians were permitted to do so. Due to governmental interference, Kuwaiti competitors were permitted to enter only as independent athletes. Dick Pound stated, "It is not a consistent standard which is being applied now. Not all Kuwait athletes banned from competing in Rio under their own flag were supporters of the regime, and not all South African athletes were supporters of apartheid, but the greater good called for South Africa to be expelled."[66] Germany's Deutsche Welle wrote of "troublesome questions, like why Kuwait's Olympic federation faced a ban from Rio, while Russia's did not. Kuwait's tiny team [...] was suspended because of improper political conduct by the government; Russia's was not, after systematically organizing a doping program for many of its competitors."[67]

Having sent samples for forensic analysis, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) found evidence that the Disappearing Positive Methodology (DPM) was in operation at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi.[68] On 7 August 2016, the IPC's Governing Board voted unanimously to ban the entire Russian team from the 2016 Summer Paralympics, citing the Russian Paralympic Committee's (RPC) inability to enforce the IPC's Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code, which is "a fundamental constitutional requirement".[68] IPC President Sir Philip Craven described the Russian anti-doping system as "entirely compromised" and 18 July 2016 as "one of the darkest days in the history of all sport", and stated that the Russian government had "catastrophically failed its Para athletes".[69] IPC Athletes' Council Chairperson Todd Nicholson said that Russia had used athletes as "pawns" in order to "show global prowess".[70] On 23 August 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Russia's appeal, stating that the IPC's decision was "made in accordance with the IPC Rules and was proportionate in the circumstances" and that Russia "did not file any evidence contradicting the facts on which the IPC decision was based".[71] The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland rejected another appeal by Russia, saying that the RPC "needed to demonstrate it had fulfilled its obligations in upholding... anti-doping protocols, and that its interests in an immediate lifting of its suspension outweigh the International Paralympics Committee's interests in fighting doping and in the integrity of athletics. It did not succeed in this in any way."[72] Rejecting an appeal by ten athletes, a German court stated that the IPC had no obligation to allow them to compete and that the committee had "comprehensibly justified" its decision.[73]

In an interview with NRK, WADA's director general Olivier Niggli said that "Russia is threatening us and our informers", mentioning daily hacking attempts and bugging of houses. He said that the agency had "a pretty good suspicion" that the hackers were Russian and that Western governments were already familiar with them.[74] He stated, "I think this will cease if they stop looking at us as an enemy, and instead accept that there is a problem that we must work together to solve. But for the moment they are sending out completely the wrong signals."[74]

October to December 2016

In October 2016, Russia's sports minister Vitaly Mutko was promoted to deputy prime minister amid allegations that Mutko had covered up a doping violation.[75]

On 3 November 2016, Russia approved an anti-doping law targeting coaches.[76]

On 15 November 2016, Berlinger introduced a new design for doping sample bottles. A spokesman later said, "We work with forensic specialists from different nations. We want to always stay a little bit ahead of those cheating but you cannot avoid a system like the Russians built up."[77]

On 7 December 2016, Yelena Isinbayeva became the chair of the supervisory board of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency.[78]

On 9 December 2016, McLaren published the second part of his report. The report claimed that from 2011 to 2015, more than 1,000 Russian competitors in various sports (including summer, winter, and Paralympic sports) benefited from the cover-up.[79][80][81][82] However, McLaren later walked back from that assertion when the cases went to court, rephrasing it as not a fact but only a possibility, as recorded on page 68 of the CAS verdict for Alexander Legkov: "Prof. McLaren went on to explain that, in this respect, if his investigation obtained evidence that a particular athlete may have benefited from the scheme, then 'It didn't mean that they did benefit. It didn't mean that they committed [an] anti-doping rule violation.'"[83] Emails indicate that those who might have benefited from a cover-up included five blind powerlifters, who may have been given drugs without their knowledge, and a fifteen-year-old.[84] An IAAF taskforce announced that Russia could not be reinstated because the country still had no functional drug-testing agency and had not accepted the findings of investigations.[35]

2017

January to October 2017

In February 2017, All-Russia Athletic Federation vice-president Andrey Silnov held a press conference in Moscow alongside a former Soviet athlete who said that East German successes due to state-sponsored doping are legitimate results of "good pharmacology" and should not be condemned.[85] Later that month, WADA stated that evidence against many individuals named in the McLaren report might be insufficient because the Moscow laboratory had disposed of doping samples and Russian authorities were not answering requests for additional evidence.[86][87]

An IAAF taskforce chaired by Rune Andersen published an interim report in April 2017.[88] President Sebastian Coe stated, "There is testing but it is still far too limited. The Russian investigative committee is still refusing to hand over athlete biological passport samples for independent testing from labs, we still have got athletes in closed cities that are difficult or impossible to get to, the ongoing employment of coaches from a tainted system, and we have got the head coach of RUSAF effectively refusing to sign their own pledge to clean athletics."[89] The report also noted the case of whistleblower Andrei Dmitriev, who had fled Russia after being threatened with imprisonment.[88] Coe said, "Anyone with information about a system which has failed to protect the goals and aspirations of clean athletes must feel it is safe to speak out."[90] Andersen questioned the selection of Yelena Isinbayeva, who had called for whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova to be "banned for life",[91] as the chair of RUSADA's supervisory board. Andersen stated, "It is difficult to see how this helps to achieve the desired change in culture in track and field, or how it helps to promote an open environment for Russian whistleblowers", noting that Isinbayeva had called a WADA report "groundless" without reading it, publicly criticised whistleblowers (Dmitriev and the Stepanovs), and had not signed a pledge for clean sport or endorsed a Russian anti-doping group.[88]

In September 2017, WADA rejected Russia's claims that WADA should be held responsible for Rodchenkov, noting that Russia had chosen to appoint him as head of the Moscow laboratory. The organisation also stated, "WADA would expect the Russian authorities to take responsibility for this deliberate system of cheating that was uncovered by the McLaren Investigation – as is stipulated within RUSADA's Roadmap to Compliance – rather than continually shifting the blame onto others."[92] Seventeen national anti-doping organisations criticised the IOC for a "continuing refusal to hold Russia accountable for one of the biggest doping scandals in sports history" and "dereliction of duty [sending] a cynical message that those of favored, insider nations within the Olympic Movement will never be punished or held accountable".[93] They stated that cases had been "shut prematurely before the IOC or IFs have obtained complete evidence from the Moscow laboratory or interviewed the relevant witnesses".[93] An additional 20 NADOs have signed on.[94]

November to December 2017

In November 2017, the IOC disciplinary commission headed by Denis Oswald imposed its first sanctions after a year-long Sochi investigation. As of 22 December 2017, 43 Russian athletes had been sanctioned and 13 medals had been stripped.

On 10 November 2017, the day after Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. of stirring up problems for Russian athletes,[95] WADA said in a news release that it had obtained an electronic file that contained "all testing data" from January 2012 to August 2015 – thousands of drug screenings run on Russian athletes. The database, which the Russian authorities were unwilling to share with antidoping investigators, arrived through a whistleblower.[96] The head of the Russian Ski Association, Yelena Välbe, told the press that "whistleblowers are traitors to their country" shortly thereafter.[97] Russia's ski team coach went even further and accused Ilia Chernousov (a skier who won a bronze medal in the 50 km freestyle event) of "leaking information" to WADA.[98]

On 11 November 2017, it was revealed that Grigory Rodchenkov had provided new evidence of Russian state-sponsored doping to the IOC, noting that he would consider going public if the Schmid Commission did not give due weight to his evidence in any public findings.

On 16 November 2017, WADA announced that Russia remained non-compliant with its Code.[99] On 26 November 2017, IAAF decided to maintain Russia's ban from international track and field competitions, saying the country had not done enough to tackle doping.[100]

The last athletes to be sanctioned as part of the International Olympic Committees re-analysis programme was on 30 November 2017.[101] In total, 48 athletes from the 2012 Olympics were sanctioned as part of the programme, including 22 Russians and 61 from the 2008 Olympics including 19 Russians. Only one athlete was sanctioned from the 2010 Olympics and they were not Russian and no athletes failed tests from the 2006 Olympics.[102]

In an interview with the New York Times, Rodchenkov reported that Yuri Nagornykh, the deputy minister of sport, had asked him to incriminate a Ukrainian athlete, Vita Semerenko, during a competition in Moscow leading up to the Olympics. Rodchenkov did not comply, convincing the minister that a retest of the drug sample would show the drugs had been spiked into the sample rather than passed through a human body. "I could not have done this to an innocent athlete," he said. "During my career, I reported many Dirty Samples as clean, but never the other way around."[103]

Official sanctions

Approved OAR logo

On 5 December 2017, the IOC announced that the Russian Olympic Committee had been suspended with immediate effect from the 2018 Winter Olympics, but their concession was to allow those Russian athletes with no previous drug violations and a consistent history of drug testing to compete under the Olympic Flag as an "Olympic Athlete from Russia" (OAR).[104] Under the terms of the IOC's edict, no Russian government officials were permitted to attend the Games, and neither the Russian flag nor the Russian national anthem would be featured; the Olympic Flag and Olympic Anthem were to be used instead. On 20 December 2017, the IOC proposed an alternative logo for the OAR athletes' uniforms (shown on right).[105] IOC President Thomas Bach said that "after following due process [the IOC] has issued proportional sanctions for this systematic manipulation while protecting the clean athletes."[106]

As of January 2018, the IOC had identified 43 Russian athletes from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi that it intended to ban from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics and all other future Olympic Games as part of the Oswald Commission. All but one of those athletes appealed against their bans to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The court overturned the sanctions on 28 of the appellants, resulting in their Sochi medals and results being reinstated, but the court ruled that there was sufficient evidence against eleven of the athletes to uphold their Sochi sanctions. The IOC issued a statement saying "the result of the CAS decision does not mean that athletes from the group of 28 will be invited to the Games. Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation" and that "this [case] may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping". The IOC found it imperative to point out that the CAS Secretary General "insisted that the CAS decision does not mean that these 28 athletes are innocent" and that they would consider an appeal against the court's decision. The court also downgraded the punishment by deciding that the 39 athletes should only be banned from the 2018 Games, not all future Olympic Games. The remaining three Russian athletes are awaiting their hearings which will be conducted after the 2018 Games.[107] After the partially successful appeal, 47 Russian athletes and coaches launched a further appeal to the CAS, in a final attempt to secure an invitation to the Games. This appeal was dismissed on 9 February 2018, the day of the opening ceremony, a decision that was welcomed by the IOC.[108]

An original pool of 500 Russian athletes was put forward for consideration for the 2018 Games and 111 of those athletes were immediately eliminated from the pool; this included the 43 athletes who had been sanctioned by the Oswald Commission.[109] The remaining 389 athletes were required to meet a number of pre-games conditions, such as a further round of tests and re-analysis of stored samples, and they would only be considered for invitation to the Games providing these requirements were met. The final number of neutral Russian athletes that were invited to compete was 169.[110] However, speed skater Olga Graf chose not to compete, stating that "the sport has become a bargaining chip in dirty political games",[111] bringing the eventual total to 168.

Reaction in Russia

In the past, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and other government officials had stated that it would be a humiliation for Russia if its athletes were not allowed to compete at the Olympics under the Russian flag.[112] However, despite rumours to the contrary, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov later revealed that no boycott had been discussed leading up to the IOC's announcement.[104] After the IOC decision was made public, Ramzan Kadyrov, the Head of Chechnya, announced that no Chechen athletes would be allowed to compete under a neutral flag.[113] On 6 December 2017, Putin confirmed that the Russian government would not prevent any of its athletes from participating at the 2018 Games as individuals, despite there being calls from other leading Russian politicians for a boycott.[114][115] Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, put forward a proposal to send fans to the Games with a Soviet Victory Banner.[116] Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, commented that the United States "fears honest competition",[117] affirming Vladimir Putin's position that the United States used its influence within the IOC to "orchestrate the doping scandal".[118] According to Komsomolskaya Pravda, a popular Russian tabloid newspaper, 86% of the Russian population opposed participation in the Winter Olympics under a neutral flag.[119] Many Russians believed that the IOC was retaliating against Russia for their discriminatory anti-gay law which provoked considerable controversy with the IOC during the 2014 Winter Olympics when it was hosted in Sochi, Russia.[119]

2018

January to February 2018

In January 2018, it was reported that all leading Russian athletes avoided meeting doping officers and passing anti-doping tests in a track and field competition in Irkutsk.[120]

During the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February 2018, two Russian athletes from the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) delegation failed doping tests and were disqualified: curler Aleksandr Krushelnitckii[121] who won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event; and bobsleigh pilot Nadezhda Sergeeva[122] who finished twelfth in the two-woman event. The IOC expressed their disappointment at the positive doping tests and stated that the OAR team would consequently not be allowed to parade under the Russian flag at the closing ceremony.[123]

Despite the two disqualifications, the IOC announced on 28 February that it had chosen to reinstate Russia's Olympic membership, just days after the end of the Winter Games, as no more cases of doping had been found in the delegation. The surprise decision to lift the suspension provoked anger among the international sporting community.[124] The IOC had planned all along to reinstate Russia after the Games provided there were no more failed tests. Their statement read "The suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee is automatically lifted with immediate effect."[125][126]

May to August 2018

In the buildup to the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosted by Russia, lab director and whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov said that he recognised one of Russia's players as a doper in one of his own doping programmes.[127] FIFA had opened an inquiry into Russian doping in football after the McLaren report was published with 33 Russian footballers named in it,[128] but said in May that they had found 'insufficient evidence' of doping but said that some cases with players unrelated to the World Cup were ongoing. The tournament eventually concluded with no players failing a drugs test. A few months after the tournament had concluded in September, the father of Russian player Denis Cheryshev said that his son had been taking growth hormone during the tournament. He was later cleared of doping by anti-doping authorities.[129]

On 20 July, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) released details of 120 doping cases with some 85 of the cases involving Olympic and World Championships medallists and almost half (47.5%) involving Russians.[130] On 27 July, 10 days before the start of the 2018 European Athletics Championships, the IAAF announced that despite making improvements in key areas, Russia would still remain suspended from international athletics competitions.[131] 29 Russian athletes still competed in the championships as Authorised Neutral Athletes,[132] and Russia eventually topped the medal table of the inaugural European Championships.

September 2018

The World-Anti Doping Agency voted on 20 September whether or not to re-instate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency after they were suspended in 2015. A WADA compliance review committee had recommended that RUSADA be re-instated which sparked anger from international athletes and officials. One of the members of the six-person review committee, Beckie Scott, the chair of WADA'S athletes commission, left her role on the committee in protest over the recommendation to reinstate RUSADA and the vice president of the agency Linda Helleland said that she would vote against their re-admission.[133] A group of athletes from UK-Anti-Doping had earlier called for Russia to remained banned until they had overhauled its Anti-Doping System saying that Russia's re-admission would be 'a catastrophe for clean sport'[134] and a member of US Anti-Doping Agency was quoted as saying 'frankly, it stinks to high heaven'.[135] The former head of the Moscow laboratory turned whistle-blower Grigory Rodchenkov said that lifting Russia's ban would be a 'catastrophe'.[136]

WADA had insisted that Russia meet two criteria before RUSADA could be re-admitted; accept the findings of the McLaren Report and grant access to Moscow's anti-doping laboratory. The compliance review committee had reviewed a letter from the Russian Sports Ministry that said it had 'sufficiently acknowledged the issues identified in Russia' and that they agree to accept the two remaining conditions'.[137]

WADA voted unanimously to re-instate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency at their congress in the Seychelles, going against the wishes of numerous national Anti-Doping agencies around the world.[138] The lawyer for whistle-blower Grigory Rodchenkov called it "the greatest treachery against clean athletes in Olympic history" whilst US Anti-Doping Agency head Travis Tygart said the decision is "bewildering and inexplicable" and a "devastating blow to the world's clean athletes". The decision received so much criticism that the head of WADA, Craig Reedie, had to publicly defend the decision[139][140] as he came under mounting criticism.[141]

With RUSADA now re-instated, the Russian Athletics Federation launched a legal challenge to the IAAF to overturn their ban from athletics competitions from which they were still suspended.[142] The IAAF, however, refused the request,[143] which was later withdrawn by the Russian athletics federation. By 26 September 2018, 77 Russians were serving doping bans in the sport of Athletics including 72 athletes and 5 coaches and athlete support personnel.[144]

November to December 2018

It was announced in November that the International Olympic Committee would further re-analyse stored samples from the 2012 Olympics, testing for all banned substances. This came after 48 adverse analytical findings were found in previous re-analysis of samples with 22 of them being Russian[145]

On 14 December 2018, Hugo Lowell at The i newspaper reported from Moscow that officials at the Russian Ministry of Sport were still reluctant to cooperate fully with WADA over turning over the testing data from its anti-doping laboratory.[146] WADA subsequently released a statement that said their Expert Team had flown to extract the data. Later, it emerged that WADA was unsuccessful in retrieving the data because their equipment had allegedly not been properly certified.

The reinstatement of RUSADA prompted allegations of bullying and a call for reform within the World Anti-Doping Agency,[147] however the IAAF decided to uphold Russia's suspension from athletics into 2019 with 63 Russians cleared to compete as neutral athletes for the year.[148][149][150] A team of five WADA experts traveled to Moscow on 17 December expected to be given full access to the laboratory, but on arrival they were refused full access which put RUSADA on the brink of being suspended once more with their president Yuri Ganus appealing to Vladimir Putin personally for a resolution.[151][152]

2019

January 2019

WADA had set Russia a strict deadline to hand over data from their Moscow laboratory by 31 December, a deadline which they evidently missed.[153] There were calls for the WADA compliance review committee to meet immediately to consider their next steps, however they decided to meet much later on 14 January which caused anger among the international community with 16 national anti-doping bodies calling for Russia's suspension once more. WADA president Dick Pound described the reaction to their decision as like a 'lynch mob'.[154][155]

WADA eventually gained full access to the Moscow laboratory on 10 January, 10 days after the initial deadline. The WADA president described it as a 'major breakthrough for clean sport' and said that they were now starting their second phase of authentication and review of the data that had been collected to make sure that it had not been compromised and to build strong cases against Russian athletes that might have doped. WADA eventually managed to retrieve 2262 samples from the Moscow lab.[156][157] Despite missing the deadline, RUSADA was still deemed compliant and was not punished.[158] The Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (iNADO) said that 'Russia has been granted more chances and, ultimately, leniency than any individual athlete or small country could expect to receive. This is very troubling'.[159]

February to March 2019

It was announced on 8 February that the International Paralympic Committee would now re-instate Russia by 15 March after they were suspended in July 2016. They stated that 69 of the 70 reinstatement criteria had been met with the last criteria being to accept the findings of the McLaren report.[160] Meanwhile, Russia's ban in athletics was upheld by the IAAF 'until further notice' stating that there were two outstanding issues that needed to be resolved.[161]

On 19 March, France issued arrest warrants for two former Russian athletics officials as part of an investigation into a doping cover-up. The former head of Russian athletics Valentin Balakhnichev and the ex-coach of the Russian athletics team Alexei Melnikov, who were both banned from the sport for life in 2016, were targeted.[162]

June to July 2019

Russia's 2008 Olympic high jump champion Andrey Silnov stepped down from his position as the vice-president of the Russian Athletics Federation in June after it was reported that he was under investigation for a possible doping violation following a re-analysis of his sample from 2013.[163] It was also reported that seven Russian track and field athletes, including athletes from the national team, were caught training in Kyrgyzstan with Vladimir Kazarin, a coach who was banned from the sport for life in 2017 for doping offences.[164] With all of that in mind, Russia was in danger of remaining suspended for the 2019 World Athletics Championships in September after the IAAF voted to uphold their ban, the 11th time they had done so.[165] In July 2019 Reuters reported that two Olympic Russian boxers competed in 2018 while serving doping bans applied by RUSADA. Reuters said this indicated an inconsistency in Russia's reform of its anti-doping practices. After Reuters notified it of the two cases RUSADA said it would investigate.[166]

The first cases of possible Anti-Doping violations against Russian athletes' samples taken from the Moscow Laboratory were handed over to the individual sporting federations in July.[167] WADA said that the data of 43 athletes had been handed over out of a target pool of 298 athletes. The first sporting federation to suspend athletes from the data received was the International Weightlifting Federation who suspended 12 Russian weightlifters including Olympic, World and European medalists.[168]

September to December 2019

On 21 September, it was widely reported that some of the data retrieved from the Moscow laboratory may have been manipulated and tampered with before it was retrieved by the World Anti-Doping Agency. This meant that Russia would remain suspended from the then-upcoming 2019 World Athletics Championships, and faced a possible ban from hosting and competing in all major sporting events including the upcoming 2020 Olympics and possibly the 2022 Olympics, 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2024 Olympics.[169][170][171][172]

Two months later on 21 November, a number of Russian athletics officials were suspended for obstructing and failing to co-operate with an investigation into the whereabouts of high-jumper Danil Lysenko. President of the Russian Athletics Federation Dmitry Shlyakhtin was suspended along with 6 others associated with RusAF, including the athlete and his coach.[173]

WADA then recommended that Russia be declared non-compliant once more and banned from hosting sporting events for four years.[174][175] On 9 December, WADA banned Russia from major international sporting events for four years, on charges of tampering with doping-related reports. Russia will be barred from hosting, participating in, or establishing bids for international sporting events during this period. As before, WADA will allow cleared Russian athletes to compete neutrally, but not under the Russian flag. This will not affect Russia's co-hosting of UEFA Euro 2020, as WADA does not recognize UEFA as a "major event organization" covered by the ban.[176] In regard to this sanction, WADA president Craig Reedie said that "For too long, Russian doping has detracted from clean sport". He also added that "Russia was afforded every opportunity to get its house in order and rejoin the global anti-doping community for the good of its athletes and of the integrity of sport, but it chose instead to continue in its stance of deception and denial".[177]

2020

January to April 2020

In January 2020, WADA suspended the Moscow laboratory from carrying out its only remaining accreditation, analysis of blood samples. The Moscow laboratory had been allowed to carry out analysis of blood samples since May 2016 as "practically impossible for laboratories to interfere with the blood variables of samples due to the nature of the analytical equipment and the athlete biological passport principles in place".[178]

On 30 April, WADA announced that they had completed their 'painstaking' investigation of the 298 Russian athletes who's data they had received from the Moscow laboratory in January 2019. The first data was handed over in July and a total of 27 international sporting federations and one major event organisation received the data in order to decide on possible anti-doping violations being brought forward.[179]

International competitions

Russian hosting

Although the IOC stated in July 2016 that it would ask sports federations to seek alternative hosts,[58] Russia has retained hosting rights for some major international sports events, including the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup, and 2019 Winter Universiade. In September 2016, Russia was awarded hosting rights for the 2021 World Biathlon Championships because the IOC's recommendation did not apply to events that had already been awarded or planned bids from the country.[180]

Olympic medalists Steven Holcomb, Matthew Antoine, Martins Dukurs, and Lizzy Yarnold questioned the decision to hold the FIBT World Championships 2017 in Sochi, with boycotts considered by Austria, Latvia, and South Korea.[181] Latvia's skeleton team confirmed that it would boycott if Sochi remained the host, saying that the "Olympic spirit was stolen in 2014."[182] On 13 December 2016, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation announced that it would relocate the event. Some athletes were concerned that they might unwittingly ingest a banned substance if the host tampered with food or drinks,[181] while others "were worried about the evidence that Russian laboratories had been opening tamper-proof bottles. If they have opened these bottles to help their athletes, what is to stop them also opening them to tamper with samples from any athlete in the competition?"[183]

Biathlon teams from the Czech Republic and Great Britain decided to boycott a 2016–17 Biathlon World Cup stage in Tyumen.[184] On 22 December 2016, Russia announced it would not host the World Cup event or the 2017 Biathlon Junior World Championships in Ostrov.[185] The same day, the International Skating Union decided to relocate a speed skating event, the 2016–17 ISU Speed Skating World Cup stage in Chelyabinsk, due to "a substantial amount of critical evidence and the uncertainty relating to the attendance of the athletes".[186] Russia was later removed as host of the 2016–17 FIS Cross-Country World Cup final stage[187][187][188] and 2021 World Biathlon Championships in Tyumen.[189]

On 22 December 2017, it was reported that FIFA fired Jiri Dvorak, a doctor, who had been investigating doping in Russian football. However, FIFA stated that removal of Dvorak was unrelated to his investigation of doping in Russian sports.[190]

Russian participation

19 national anti-doping organisations recommended suspending Russia from participation in all sports. Russia was suspended from athletics, weightlifting, Paralympic sport competitions, but has continued its participation in other sports.

The IAAF permitted Russians who have undergone testing by non-Russian agencies to compete as neutral athletes.[89] The Russian flag, national colours, and anthem were banned.[191]

There were calls to ban Russia from participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2018 Winter Paralympics or to allow Russian athletes to compete only as neutrals.[192][193][194]

Media coverage

Russian doping has been featured in several documentaries broadcast in Germany, France, and the United States:

  • Geheimsache Doping: Wie Russland seine Sieger macht (The Doping Secret: How Russia Creates Champions), ARD / Das Erste, aired 3 December 2014[18]
  • Geheimsache Doping. Im Schattenreich der Leichtathletik (The Doping Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics), ARD / Das Erste, aired 1 August 2015[195]
  • Geheimsache Doping: Russlands Täuschungsmanöver (The Doping Secret: Russia's Red Herrings), ARD / Westdeutscher Rundfunk, aired 6 March 2016[39][196]
  • Russia's Dark Secret, 60 Minutes / CBS News, aired 8 May 2016[197]
  • Plus vite, plus haut, plus dopés (Faster, higher, more doped), Arte in partnership with Le Monde, aired 7 June 2016[198]
  • Icarus, Netflix, directed by Bryan Fogel, 2017[199]
  • Inside edge on Amazon prime

Reactions

International

Some athletes from other countries have criticised WADA, alleging that the agency has been reluctant to investigate Russia despite multiple tips over several years.[8] WADA officials stated that the agency lacked the authority to carry out its own investigations until 2015.[13][200] Arne Ljungqvist, WADA's former vice chairman, commented that "WADA always had an excuse as to why they wouldn't move forward. They expected Russia to clean up themselves."[8] In June 2016, The Guardian reported that a letter approved by over twenty athletes' groups from multiple sports and countries as well as the chairs of the IOC's and WADA's athletes committees, Claudia Bokel and Beckie Scott, had been sent to IOC president Thomas Bach and WADA head Craig Reedie; the letter criticised the organisations for inaction and silence until the media became involved and said that athlete confidence in the anti-doping system had been "shattered".[201]

On 18 July 2016, WADA's Athlete Committee stated, "Although we have known of the allegations, to read the report today, to see the weight of the evidence, and to see the scale of doping and deception is astounding."[202] The athlete committee,[202] the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations,[203] and the leaders of anti-doping agencies in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States called for Russia to be banned from the 2016 Olympics in Rio.[204] After Bach delayed a decision on whether to ban the entire Russian team, IOC member Dick Pound said, "the IOC is for some reason very reluctant to think about a total exclusion of the Russian team. But we've got institutionalized, government-organised cheating on a wide scale across a whole range of sports in a country. You've got to keep from turning [zero tolerance] into: 'We have zero tolerance except for Russia.'"[205] Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star said, "If the threshold Russia established is not high enough to merit a total ban from an Olympic Games, it's a remarkable precedent to set."[206] Former IOC vice president, Kevan Gosper of Australia, said, "we have to be very careful [about making] the wrong move with an important country like Russia", to which Richard Hind of The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) responded, "And there is the IOC in a nutshell. There are nations, and there are 'important nations'. Not everyone pees in the same specimen jar."[207]

The IOC's decision on 24 July 2016 was criticised by athletes[208][209][210][211][212] and writers.[213][214][215][216][217][218] It received support from the European Olympic Committees, which said that Russia is "a valued member".[208] Cam Cole of Canada's National Post said that the IOC had "caved, as it always does, defaulting to whatever compromise it could safely adopt without offending a superpower".[217] Expressing disappointment, a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, Hayley Wickenheiser, wrote, "I ask myself if we were not dealing with Russia would this decision to ban a nation [have] been an easier one? I fear the answer is yes."[210] Writing for Deutsche Welle in Germany, Olivia Gerstenberger said that Bach had "flunked" his first serious test, adding, "With this decision, the credibility of the organization is shattered once more, while that of state-sponsored doping actually receives a minor boost."[219] Bild (Germany) described Bach as "Putin's poodle".[215] Paul Hayward, chief sports writer of The Daily Telegraph (UK), remarked, "The white flag of capitulation flies over the International Olympic Committee. Russia's deep political reach should have told us this would happen."[213]

Leaders of thirteen national anti-doping organisations wrote that the IOC had "violated the athletes' fundamental rights to participate in Games that meet the stringent requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code" and "[demonstrated that] it lacks the independence required to keep commercial and political interests from influencing the tough decisions necessary to protect clean sport".[220] WADA's former chief investigator, Jack Robertson, said "The anti-doping code is now just suggestions to follow or not" and that "WADA handed the IOC that excuse [not enough time before the Olympics] by sitting on the allegations for close to a year."[16] McLaren was dissatisfied with the IOC's handling of his report, saying "It was about state-sponsored doping and the misrecording of doping results and they turned the focus into individual athletes and whether they should compete. [...] it was a complete turning upside down of what was in the report and passing over responsibility to all the different international federations."[221][222]

In Russia

Vladimir Putin awards Alexandr Zubkov at the ceremonies for Russian athletes, 24 February 2014. Zubkov would be stripped of his gold medals 3.5 years later.

Some Russians described the allegations as an anti-Russian plot while others stated that Russia was "just doing what the rest of the world does".[223][224][225] Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had "never supported any violations in sport, we have never supported it at the state level, and we will never support this"[226] and that the allegations were part of an "anti-Russia policy" by the West.[227] Aleksei Pushkov, chairman of Russia's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said that the IAAF's decision to uphold its ban was "an act of political revenge against Russia for its independent foreign policy".[227] A member of Russia's parliament, Vadim Dengin, stated, "The entire doping scandal is a pure falsification, invented to discredit and humiliate Russia."[228] After the Court of Arbitration for Sport turned down an appeal by Russian athletes, pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva wrote, "Let all those pseudo-clean foreign athletes breathe a sigh of relief and win their pseudo gold medals in our absence. They always did fear strength."[229] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the ruling a "crime against sport".[230] A poll by the Levada Center found that 14% of Russians believed that the country's athletes had doped in Sochi, 71% did not believe WADA's reports, and 15% decided not to answer.[231]

A spokesman for Putin called Stepanova a "Judas".[232] The Russian media have also criticised the Stepanovs. Yuliya Stepanova said, "All the news stories call me a traitor and not just traitor but a traitor to the Motherland."[11] Vitaly Stepanov said, "I wasn't trying to expose Russia, I was trying to expose corrupt sports officials that are completely messing up competitions not just inside the country but globally."[12] Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the Russian media portrayed the German documentaries as "part of a Western conspiracy with the aim of weakening the great nation that Vladimir Putin lifted from its knees".[233] Hajo Seppelt had the "impression that he and the Stepanovs were being styled as enemies of the state".[233]

Dick Pound described Russia's response as "a bit like when you get stopped for speeding on the freeway by the police and you say 'Why me? Everyone else was doing it'."[234] He stated that if Russia's authorities had "responded to their issues they could easily have enough time to sort everything out in time for Rio. But instead, they played the role of victims, claiming there was a plot against them for too long."[234] Leonid Bershidsky, a Russian writer for Bloomberg View, wrote that Russia's "officials need to understand that "whataboutism" doesn't avert investigations".[224] The Moscow correspondent of Deutsche Welle, Juri Rescheto, wrote that the response he saw in Russia "shows that the country is living in a parallel universe" and seeks to blame others.[235] Writing for The New York Times, Andrew E. Kramer said that Russia responded to the IAAF's decision against reinstatement with "victimhood" reflecting a "culture of grievances that revolves around perceived slights and anti-Russian conspiracies taking place in the outside world, particularly in Western countries".[227] The newspaper's editorial board also saw a "narrative of victimization" in Russia, and wrote that it resembled how the Soviet Union would respond to a punishment – by saying that it was "politically motivated, always a provocation, never justified. [Even] though the Cold War is long over, President Vladimir Putin remains stuck in the same, snarling defensive crouch in his responses to any accusations of Russian foul play".[236] Andrew Osborn of Reuters wrote that the Russian government had "deftly deflected the blame by passing it off as a Western Cold War-style plot to sabotage Russia's international comeback".[237] In response to Russia's opinion that the allegations were "politically motivated", WADA's former chief investigator, Jack Robertson, said that he saw politics "when Craig Reedie tried to intervene by writing emails to the Russian ministry to console them".[16]

Match TV said that Americans had orchestrated the doping scandal, and modern pentathlon champion Aleksander Lesun called it an unfair "attack", because "Doping is in all countries and there are violators everywhere."[238] Following the IOC's announcement on 24 July 2016, Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko said it was "a just and fair decision and we hope every federation will take the same kind of decision. Doping is a worldwide evil, not only of Russia."[239] The Russian media's reaction was "nearly euphoric at points".[238]

A reporter from Russian state-owned television told IOC President Thomas Bach that "It looked like you personally were helping us," and asked whether the doping investigation was a "political attack" on Russian athletes.[240] After Russian athletes said that McLaren was about "politics" rather than sport, the British biathlon association stated that their comments were "brain-washed, deluded and dishonest" and decided to boycott an event in Russia.[241] Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko said that athletes should be "punished" for calls to boycott.[185]

On 7 December 2017, it was reported that Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov paid a Russian Olympic athlete millions of rubles in hush money not to reveal Russia's elaborate doping scheme. Prokhorov had run the Russian Biathlon Union from 2008 to 2014 and offered legal services to disqualified Russian biathletes.[242]

In Russia, the December 2019 sanction was received with outrage. President Vladimir Putin slammed the decision as a "politically motivated" ruling that "contradicted" the Olympic Charter. "There is nothing to reproach the Russian Olympic Committee for and if there is no reproach towards this committee, the country should take part in competitions under its own flag," Putin said. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also said the ban was politically motivated. "This is the continuation of this anti-Russian hysteria that has already become chronic," Medvedev told domestic press.[177]

2017 Sochi bans

The fallout from the IOC bans of Russian athletes caught doping at the Sochi Olympics, which left previous Russian whistleblowers in fear of their own personal safety, has been likened to a "witch-hunt" within the Russian winter sports community.[243] On 9 November 2017, Vladimir Putin called the decisions to ban Russian athletes for doping violations an attempt by the U.S. to undermine his nation and affect the Russian presidential election in March.[244]

According to Russian news agency TASS, the Russian sports minister Pavel Kolobkov said that the investigative committee had found no evidence that the state was operating a doping system; that same committee was seeking whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov's extradition from the United States, where he is in witness protection. Despite reassurances from Russian officials that no doping system existed, IOC official Dick Pound said: "empirical evidence is totally to the contrary, so I think what we're seeing in the Russian press is for domestic consumption."[94]

On 17 November 2017, top Russian Olympic official Leonid Tyagachev said that Grigory Rodchenkov, who had alleged that Russia was running a systematic doping programme, "should be shot for lying, like Stalin would have done".[245]

2018 Olympic ban

The IOC's decision was criticized by Jack Robertson, primary investigator of the Russian doping programme on behalf of WADA, who said that the IOC had issued "a non-punitive punishment meant to save face while protecting the [IOC’s] and Russia’s commercial and political interests". He also emphasized that Russian whistleblowers provided empirical evidence that "99 per cent of [their] national-level teammates were doping." According to Robertson, "[WADA] has discovered that when a Russian athlete [reaches] the national level, he or she [has] no choice in the matter: [it is] either dope, or you’re done"; he added "There is currently no intelligence I have seen or heard about that indicates the state-sponsored doping program has ceased."[246] It was also reported that Russian officials intensively lobbied U.S. politicians in an apparent attempt to achieve the extradition to Russia of the main whistleblower, Grigory Rodchenkov.[247]

On 6 December 2017 Vladimir Putin announced his decision "not to prevent individual Russian athletes" from participating at the 2018 Winter Games. He also stated that he is pleased the IOC Inquiry Commission chaired by Samuel Schmid "didn't find any proof that the Russian government was involved in a doping conspiracy".[248] However, the Inquiry Commission only said that there's not enough evidence to claim that highest Russian state authorities were involved. The fact that Russian Ministry of Sport and Federal Security Service were part of the scheme was never in doubt.[249]

Deputy (member) of the Russian State Duma and former professional boxer Nikolai Valuev has said that Russia should go to the Olympics and "tear everyone apart to spite these bastards who want to kill our sport".[250]

Despite the "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR) designation, many Russian fans still attended the 2018 Games, wearing the Russian colours and chanting "Russia!" in unison, in an act of defiance against the ban.[251]

Justin Peters of Slate magazine wrote during the Games that the IOC "ended up with a situation that seemed to negate the entire point of the sanctions against Russia. The IOC did not want there to be a Russian Olympic team at the Pyeongchang Games… [yet] arenas are full of teams of Russian Olympians… [this is] a half-hearted wrist slap issued by an entity that appears more interested in saving face than in protecting athletes".[252]

The CAS decision to overturn the life bans of 28 Russian athletes and restore their medals met fierce criticism among Olympic officials, including IOC president Thomas Bach who described the decision as "extremely disappointing and surprising". Grigory Rodchenkov's lawyer has stated that "the CAS decision would allow doped athletes to escape without punishment"[253] and also that "[the CAS decision] provides yet another ill-gotten gain for the corrupt Russian doping system generally, and Putin specifically".[254]

Statistics

WADA publishes annual summaries of anti-doping rule violations (ADRV). Russia ranked first in the world for ADRVs during 2013, 2014, and 2015.[255]

Anti-doping rule violations[255]
YearRussian ADRVTotal world ADRVRussian proportionRussian rankAs of
20132251,95311.5%115 May 2015
20141481,6479%121 February 2016
20151761,9019.3%131 January 2017

Stripped Olympic medals

Due to doping violations, Russia has been stripped of 43 Olympic medals – the most of any country, four times the number of the runner-up, and more than a third of the global total. It was the leading country in terms of the number of medals removed due to doping at the 2002 Winter Olympics (5 medals), the 2006 Winter Olympics (1 medal), the 2008 Summer Olympics (14 medals), the 2012 Summer Olympics (13 medals), 2014 Winter Olympics (4 medals) and the joint most at the 2004 Summer Olympics (3 medals) and the 2016 Summer Olympics (1 medal). The 43 revoked medals include 11 Golds, 21 Silvers, and 11 Bronzes.

Olympics Athlete Medal Event Ref
2002 Winter Olympics Olga Danilova Gold Cross-country skiing, women's 5 km + 5 km combined pursuit [256]
Silver Cross-country skiing, women's 10 km classical [256]
Larisa Lazutina Gold Cross-country skiing, women's 30 km classical [256][257]
Silver Cross-country skiing, women's 15 km freestyle [258]
Silver Cross-country skiing, women's 5 km + 5 km combined pursuit [258]
2004 Summer Olympics Irina Korzhanenko Gold Athletics, women's shot put [259]
Svetlana Krivelyova Bronze Athletics, women's shot put [260]
Oleg Perepetchenov Bronze Weightlifting, men's 77 kg [261]
2006 Winter Olympics Olga Medvedtseva Silver Biathlon, women's individual [262]
2008 Summer Olympics Relay team (Yuliya Chermoshanskaya) Gold Athletics, women's 4 × 100 m relay [263]
Relay team
(Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, Tatyana Firova)
Silver Athletics, women's 4 × 400 m relay [265]
Maria Abakumova Silver Athletics, women's javelin throw [266]
Relay team (Denis Alexeev) Bronze Athletics, men's 4 × 400 m relay [266]
Yekaterina Volkova Bronze Athletics, women's 3000 m steeplechase [268]
Anna Chicherova Bronze Athletics, women's high jump [270]
Khadzhimurat Akkayev Bronze Weightlifting, men's 94 kg [271]
Dmitry Lapikov Bronze Weightlifting, men's 105 kg [271]
Marina Shainova Silver Weightlifting, women's 58 kg [265]
Nadezhda Evstyukhina Bronze Weightlifting, women's 75 kg [265]
Khasan Baroyev Silver Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman 120 kg [271]
Tatyana Lebedeva Silver Athletics, women's triple jump [272]
Silver Athletics, women's long jump [272]
Tatyana Chernova Bronze Athletics, Women's heptathlon [273]
2012 Summer Olympics Tatyana Lysenko Gold Athletics, women's hammer throw [274]
Yuliya Zaripova Gold Athletics, women's 3000 m steeplechase [275][276]
Sergey Kirdyapkin Gold Athletics, men's 50 km walk [277]
Tatyana Chernova Bronze Athletics, women's heptathlon [278]
Darya Pishchalnikova Silver Athletics, women's discus throw [279]
Yevgeniya Kolodko Silver Athletics, women's shot put [280]
Olga Kaniskina Silver Athletics, women's 20 km walk [281]
Apti Aukhadov Silver Weightlifting, men's 85 kg [282]
Aleksandr Ivanov Silver Weightlifting, men's 94 kg [276]
Natalia Zabolotnaya Silver Weightlifting, women's 75 kg [276]
Svetlana Tsarukayeva Silver Weightlifting, women's 63 kg
Relay (Antonina Krivoshapka, Yulia Gushchina) Silver Athletics, women's 4 × 400 m relay [283][284]
Mariya Savinova Gold Athletics, women's 800 m
2014 Winter Olympics Two-man (Alexandr Zubkov, Alexey Voyevoda) Gold Bobsleigh, Two-man [285][286]
Four-man (Alexandr Zubkov, Alexey Voyevoda) Gold Bobsleigh, Four-man [285][286][287]
Olga Vilukhina Silver Biathlon, Women's sprint [287]
Relay team (Olga Vilukhina, Yana Romanova, Olga Zaitseva) Silver Biathlon, Women's relay [288][289]
2016 Summer Olympics Mikhail Aloyan Silver Boxing, men's flyweight [290]

Hashtag controversy

According to Reuters, Russian trolls were involved in spreading Twitter hashtag #NoRussiaNoGames following the announcement from IOC that Russia is suspended from the 2018 Winter Olympics. One of the accounts identified by Reuters as driving activity around #NoRussiaNoGames was @ungestum, which lists its location as the Russian city of Orenburg. The account has sent 238 tweets consisting of just the hashtag to other users since the ban was announced, indicating that these were computer-generated. The campaign was also highly promoted by a group of at least five accounts which tweeted the hashtag numerous times along with the links that were not related to Russian-language news articles, and repeatedly reposted tweets from each other. One of those accounts, @03_ppm, has sent at least 275 such tweets.[291]

See also

References

  1. https://www.wada-ama.org/en/media/news/2019-12/wada-executive-committee-unanimously-endorses-four-year-period-of-non-compliance
  2. https://time.com/5746344/russia-banned-olympics-2019/
  3. Hunt, Thomas M. (2011). Drug Games: The International Olympic Committee and the Politics of Doping. University of Texas Press. p. 66. ISBN 0-29273957-5.
  4. Ruiz, Rebecca R. (13 August 2016). "The Soviet Doping Plan: Document Reveals Illicit Approach to '84 Olympics". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  5. "Dobriskey slams 'Russian seven'". 28 November 2008 via news.bbc.co.uk.
  6. "In Biathlon, Concerns About Russia's program". nytimes.com. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  7. "Rogge's doping warning for Russia". eurosport.com. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  8. Ruiz, Rebecca R.; Macur, Juliet; Austen, Ian (15 June 2016). "Even With Confession of Cheating, World's Doping Watchdog Did Nothing". The New York Times.
  9. Sottas, PE; Robinson, N; Fischetto, G; Dollé, G; Alonso, JM; Saugy, M (May 2011). "Prevalence of Blood Doping in Samples Collected From Elite Track and Field Athletes". Clin Chem. 57: 762–9. doi:10.1373/clinchem.2010.156067. PMID 21427381.
  10. Leicester, John (12 January 2016). "IAAF knew of Russians' rampant doping years before ban: report". CBC Sports. Associated Press.
  11. Schwartz, Daniel (13 January 2016). "Whistleblowers Yuliya and Vitaly Stepanov describe Russia's sports doping system". CBC News.
  12. Cherry, Gene (10 May 2016). "Whistleblower nearly aborted efforts to expose Russian doping". Reuters.
  13. Pells, Eddie (8 May 2016). "60 Minutes: WADA received 200 emails from whistleblower about Russian doping scandal". Associated Press. CBC News.
  14. Fyodorov, Gennady (30 April 2013). "Pishchalnikova given 10-year doping ban". Reuters. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  15. Harris, Nick (25 July 2016). "The story behind the story of Russia, doping and the I.O.C". Sporting Intelligence.
  16. Epstein, David (4 August 2016). "On Eve of Olympics, Top Investigator Details Secret Efforts to Undermine Russian Doping Probe". ProPublica.
  17. Olterman, Philip (3 December 2014). "Russia accused of athletics doping cover-up on German TV". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  18. "ARD-Dokumentation deckt Doping und Vertuschungsapparat in Russland auf" [ARD documentary on doping in Russia] (in German). Westdeutscher Rundfunk. 3 December 2014.
  19. "Russian doping claims: 99% of athletes guilty, German TV alleges". BBC News. 4 December 2014.
  20. "Russian Olympic champion Savinova stripped of gold, banned". Associated Press. Yahoo News. 10 February 2017. Archived from the original on 10 February 2017.
  21. "IAAF investigating Russian Olympic gold medallist Elena Lashmanova". The Guardian.
  22. "Independent Commission – Report 1". World Anti-Doping Agency. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  23. "Ban All Russian Track Athletes: World Anti-Doping Agency Panel". NBC. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  24. Gibson, Owen (9 November 2015). "Russia accused of 'state-sponsored doping' as Wada calls for athletics ban". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  25. "Athletics doping: Wada commission recommends Russia suspension". BBC. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  26. "WADA suspends Moscow anti-doping laboratory". Deutsche Welle. 10 November 2015.
  27. "IAAF provisionally suspends Russian Member Federation ARAF". IAAF. 13 November 2015.
  28. "Russia accepts full, indefinite ban from world athletics over doping scandal". The Guardian. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  29. "Athletics doping: IAAF names team to inspect Russian reforms". BBC. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  30. Faloyin, Dipo (19 November 2015). "WADA Suspends Russia's Anti-Doping Agency". Newsweek. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  31. Ingle, Sean (18 November 2015). "Russian Anti-Doping Agency suspended by Wada for non-compliance". Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  32. "Prosecutors: Former IAAF president Diack under investigation". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. 4 November 2015.
  33. Phillips, Mitch (7 January 2016). "Former top officials get life bans for doping blackmail". Reuters.
  34. "The Independent Commission Report #2" (PDF). WADA. 14 January 2016.
  35. "IAAF freezing nationality switches, upholding Russia ban". Associated Press. Yahoo News. 6 February 2017.
  36. Ellingworth, James (21 February 2016). "Nikita Kamaev, leading Russian anti-doping official, was planning on writing a book before sudden death". CBC News. Associated Press.
  37. "Late Russian anti-doping agency boss was set to expose true story: report". Reuters. 21 February 2016.
  38. "Russian doping at Sochi Winter Olympics exposed".
  39. "WADA dismayed by latest doping allegations in Russian athletics". WADA. 7 March 2016.
  40. Ruiz, Rebecca R.; Schwirtz, Michael (12 May 2016). "Russian Insider Says State-Run Doping Fueled Olympic Gold". The New York Times.
  41. "WADA Names Richard McLaren to Sochi Investigation Team". WADA. 19 May 2016.
  42. "Targeted reanalysis of London and Beijing samples underway ahead of Olympic Games Rio 2016 - Olympic News". International Olympic Committee. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  43. "Doping: TV revelations cast further doubt on Russia's Olympic participation". Deutsche Welle. 6 June 2016.
  44. "IAAF: Nick Davies one of three officials provisionally suspended in ethics case". BBC News. 10 June 2016.
  45. Roan, Dan; Nathanson, Patrick (22 December 2015). "Athletics doping crisis: Secret plan to delay naming Russian cheats". BBC News.
  46. "Update on the status of Russia testing" (PDF). WADA. 15 June 2016.
  47. Pells, Eddie (16 June 2016). "Anti-doping leader has no sympathy for unhelpful Russians". Associated Press.
  48. "'RusAF has not met reinstatement conditions' – IAAF Council Meeting, Vienna". IAAF. 17 June 2016.
  49. Trevelyan, Mark; Stubbs, Jack (17 June 2016). "IAAF votes to keep Russia banned, Rio participation in balance". Reuters.
  50. "Rio 2016: Russia, Kazakhstan & Belarus weightlifting teams face doping ban". BBC News. 23 June 2016.
  51. "Court of Arbitration for Sports – Media Release: 18 cases registered – Status as of 3 August 2016" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sports. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  52. "McLaren Independent Investigations Report into Sochi Allegations". WADA. 18 July 2016.
  53. Ruiz, Rebecca R. (18 July 2016). "Russia May Face Olympics Ban as Doping Scheme Is Confirmed". The New York Times.
  54. "Takeaways from McLaren report? Confusion, corruption, cynicism".
  55. "The damning McLaren Report on Russian Olympic doping, explained". 18 July 2016.
  56. "McLaren/WADA investigation of Sochi 2014 allegations". Berlinger. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  57. "WADA Statement: Independent Investigation confirms Russian State manipulation of the doping control process". WADA. 18 July 2016.
  58. "Statement of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee on the WADA Independent Person Report". International Olympic Committee. 19 July 2016.
  59. . helsinkitimes.fi (19 July 2016). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  60. "Athletics – CAS rejects the claims/appeal of the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian athletes" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. 21 July 2016.
  61. "The IPC opens suspension proceedings against NPC Russia". International Paralympic Committee. 22 July 2016. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016.
  62. "Decision of the IOC Executive Board concerning the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Games Rio 2016". International Olympic Committee. 24 July 2016.
  63. "WADA acknowledges IOC decision on Russia, stands by Agency's Executive Committee recommendations". WADA. 24 July 2016.
  64. "Rio 2016: IOC panel to have final say on Russian athletes' participation". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  65. "Russian athletes participating in Rio Olympic Game by federation". Europe Online Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  66. Butler, Nick (5 June 2017). "Exclusive: Pound confident Russian athletes will be found guilty of Sochi 2014 doping despite IOC inaction". Inside the games biz.
  67. Weber, Joscha (27 April 2017). "Doping pressure mounts on IOC at German parliament". Deutsche Welle.
  68. "The IPC suspends the Russian Paralympic Committee with immediate effect". International Paralympic Committee. 7 August 2016.
  69. Craven, Philip (7 August 2016). "The IPC decision on the membership status of the Russian Paralympic Committee". International Paralympic Committee.
  70. Nicholson, Todd (7 August 2016). "The IPC decision on the membership status of the Russian Paralympic Committee". International Paralympic Committee.
  71. "CAS dismisses the appeal filed by the Russian Paralympic Committee" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. 23 August 2016.
  72. "Swiss court holds firm on Russian paralympic athletes' Rio ban". Reuters. 31 August 2016.
  73. "German court rejects 10 Russian athletes' Paralympic bid". Associated Press. 5 September 2016.
  74. Bentsen, Anders Rove; Rognerud, Anne (1 September 2016). "Wada til NRK: Russland prøver å hacke oss hver dag" [WADA tells NRK: Russia trying to hack us every day]. NRK (in Norwegian).
  75. Ruiz, Rebecca R. (19 October 2016). "Russia Sports Minister Promoted to Deputy Prime Minister". The New York Times.
  76. "Russia approves anti-doping law targeting coaches". 3 November 2016.
  77. "New design for doping sample bottles after Russian scandal". Associated Press. 13 December 2016. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016.
  78. "Isinbayeva to oversee Russian anti-doping agency". The Associated Press. CTV News. 7 December 2016.
  79. "Electronic Documentary Package of the IP Professor Richard H. McLaren, O.C." IP evidence disclosure package. December 2016.
  80. "McLaren Independent Investigation Report into Sochi Allegations – Part II". World Anti-Doping Agency. 9 December 2016.
  81. Ruiz, Rebecca R. (9 December 2016). "Russia's Doping Program Laid Bare by Extensive Evidence in Report". The New York Times.
  82. Ostlere, Lawrence (9 December 2016). "McLaren report: more than 1,000 Russian athletes involved in doping conspiracy". The Guardian.
  83. "Wayback Machine" (PDF). 1 August 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  84. Ellingworth, James (13 December 2016). "Emails show how Russian officials covered up mass doping". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016.
  85. Ellingworth, James (7 February 2017). "Russia picks fight over doping after IAAF ban extended". Associated Press. Yahoo News. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017.
  86. Winters, Max (25 February 2017). "WADA confirms McLaren evidence may not be sufficient to sanction some Russian athletes". Inside the Games.
  87. "A letter of Christophe De Kepper, director-general and member of the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to IOC" (PDF). The International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  88. Andersen, Rune (8 April 2017). "IAAF Taskforce: Interim report to IAAF Council, 12‐13 April 2017". International Association of Athletics Federations.
  89. Harris, Rob (13 April 2017). "IAAF: Little progress by Russia to secure athletics return". Yahoo News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017.
  90. "A great sport, our athletes and what they do is compelling". International Association of Athletics Federations. 13 April 2017.
  91. "The Latest: IOC VP: ruling was 'justice for clean athletes'". Associated Press. 24 July 2016.
  92. "WADA tells Russia to stop shifting blame for its doping scandal". Reuters. 13 September 2017.
  93. "Doping Crisis Threatens 2018 Winter Olympic Games" (PDF). Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations. 14 September 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 September 2017.
  94. "Doping scandal: WADA to decide whether Russia is in compliance with code". usatoday.com. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  95. "Putin: Doping allegations 'US plot against Russian election'". BBC News. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  96. "Antidoping Officials Obtain Trove of Russian Lab Data". New York Times. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  97. "Елена Вяльбе: "Для меня любой информатор – предатель родины"". sports.ru. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  98. "Юрий Бородавко: «Черноусов сдает своих товарищей, желая получить медаль Сочи-2014»". sports.ru. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  99. "WADA rules Russia non-compliant in Winter Games blow". reuters.com. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  100. "IAAF Maintains Ban on Russia in International Track And Field". Reuters. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  101. "IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping tests at London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  102. "Reanalysis from Turin 2006 completed without any positive cases". International Olympic Committee. 4 February 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  103. "Whistle-Blower on Doping Says Neutral Flag for Russia Is Fair Option". New York Times. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  104. Ruiz, Rebecca C.; Panja, Tariq (5 December 2017). "Russia Banned From Winter Olympics by I.O.C." The New York Times. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  105. "IOC's OAR implementation group releases guidelines for uniforms accessories and equipment's". olympic.org. 20 December 2017.
  106. "IOC Bars Russian Athletes and Officials From Winter Olympic Games". The Moscow Times. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  107. "IOC Statement on CAS Decision". International Olympic Committee. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  108. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  109. "Reduced Pool of Russian Athletes and Officials Who Can Be Considered for Invitation to PyeongChang 2018 Determined". International Olympic Committee. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  110. "Russia Is Barred From Winter Olympics. Russia Is Sending 169 Athletes to Winter Olympics". The New York Times. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  111. "Winter Olympics 2018: Olga Graf turns down IOC invite for Pyeongchang". bbc.co.uk. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018.
  112. "Putin says US pressured IOC to ban Russia from Winter Games". Yahoo Sports. Agence France-Presse. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  113. "Кадыров: ни один чеченский спортсмен не будет выступать под нейтральным флагом". Championat.com (in Russian). Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  114. "Жириновский предложил отказаться от участия в Олимпиаде-2018" (in Russian). Interfax.ru. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  115. "Vladimir Putin won't tell Russian athletes to boycott Winter Olympics". CNN. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  116. "Зюганов предложил отправить на Олимпиаду болельщиков со знаменем Победы". mk.ru (in Russian). 30 January 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  117. "US fears honest competition in energy, arms industry and sports, Lavrov warns". TASS. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  118. "Putin: Doping allegations 'US plot against Russian election'". BBC News. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  119. "Опрос "КП": Стоит ли спортсменам из России ехать на Олимпиаду под нейтральным флагом". kp.ru (in Russian). 20 December 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  120. "Russian Athletes Disappear From Competition After Doping Agency Arrives". The Moscow Times. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  121. "CAS Anti-Doping Division – Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 – Media Release 6 – Aleksandr Krushelnitckii is found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation with meldonium" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  122. "CAS Anti-Doping Division – Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 – Media Release 7 – Nadezhda Sergeeva is found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation with trimetazidine" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. 24 February 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  123. "Winter Olympics: IOC votes to lift Russia ban if no further doping violations – BBC Sport". bbc.co.uk. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  124. "Russia's Olympic membership restored by IOC after doping ban". The Guardian. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  125. "IOC Statement". www.olympic.org. Lausanne: International Olympic Committee. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  126. "Russia's Olympic membership restored by International Olympic Committee – BBC Sport". bbc.co.uk. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  127. "Russian World Cup player recognised by doping whistleblower". The Guardian. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  128. "Fifa contacts McLaren over doping claims in football". 21 November 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  129. "Denis Cheryshev: Russia midfielder cleared of doping violation by authorities". BBC Sport. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  130. "Ruth Jebet: Olympic champion among 120 doping cases revealed by Athletics Integrity Unit". BBC Sport. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  131. "Russia doping: Country still suspended by IAAF despite 'improvement'". BBC Sport. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  132. "ЧЕ в Берлине: 29 наших, статистика – Всероссийская федерация лёгкой атлетики". rusathletics.info (in Russian). Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  133. "Wada vice-president Linda Helleland to oppose lifting Russia doping suspension". BBC Sport. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  134. "Russia doping ban: Panel advises Wada to uphold Rusada ban". BBC Sport. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  135. "Russia doping ban: Panel advises Wada to bring end to Rusada ban". BBC Sport. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  136. "Lifting Russia doping ban would be catastrophic - whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov". BBC Sport. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  137. "Russia doping ban: Wada suggested compromise to bring end to Rusada ban". BBC Sport. 15 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  138. Lowell, Hugo (20 September 2018). "Russia doping ban ends as Wada lifts three-year suspension over state-sponsored drug scandal". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  139. "Russia reinstated by Wada after doping scandal suspension". BBC Sport. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  140. "Russia doping: Wada head Sir Craig Reedie defends Russian reinstatement decision". BBC Sport. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  141. Lowell, Hugo (1 November 2018). "Wada president Reedie lashes out amid criticism over Russia return". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  142. "Russia calls on IAAF to lift doping ban". BBC Sport. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  143. Lowell, Hugo (20 September 2018). "Russian athletics to remain in wilderness despite Wada ruling". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  144. "Notifications and Sanctions | Athletics Integrity Unit". www.athleticsintegrity.org. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  145. "The International Olympic Committee reanalyses further London 2012 samples for banned substances - Olympic News". International Olympic Committee. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  146. Lowell, Hugo (14 December 2018). "Russia faces a new ban from world sport as Wada deadline looms and internal disagreements grow". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  147. "Wada: Anti-doping campaigner Beckie Scott says officials tried 'to bully' her". BBC Sport. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  148. "IAAF approves the application of 21 Russians to compete internationally as neutral athletes | News | iaaf.org". www.iaaf.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  149. "IAAF clears 42 Russian athletes to compete as neutrals in 2019". 21 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  150. "IAAF upholds Russia's ban from athletics into 2019". BBC Sport. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  151. "Russian doping: Rusada on verge of suspension again". BBC Sport. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  152. "Russian doping: Rusada chief appeals to President Vladimir Putin for 'urgent resolution'". BBC Sport. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  153. "Russian doping: Russia set to miss end-of-year Wada deadline". BBC Sport. 30 December 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  154. "Russian doping: Head of key Wada panel defends waiting to decide on next action". BBC Sport. 3 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  155. "Rusada missed deadline response like a 'lynch mob' says Dick Pound". BBC Sport. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  156. "World Anti-Doping Agency retrieves 2,262 samples from Russian lab". 30 April 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  157. "World Anti-Doping Agency retrieves data from Russian lab". 17 January 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  158. "Russian Anti-Doping Agency remains compliant despite missing World Anti-Doping Agency deadline". 22 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  159. "iNADO – Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations: Press Releases". www.inado.org. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  160. "International Paralympic Committee to reinstate Russia". 8 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  161. "Russia doping scandal: IAAF upholds the ban on Russian athletes until further notice". 11 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  162. "Arrest warrants issued in doping probe". 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  163. "Olympic gold medallist steps down as first vice-president of Russian Athletics Federation while facing doping case". www.insidethegames.biz. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  164. Ellingworth, James (14 June 2019). "Russian track and field faces a wave of disciplinary cases". AP NEWS. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  165. "Russia's ban for doping upheld months before World Championships in Doha". 9 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  166. "EXCLUSIVE-Two Russian boxers competed despite doping bans". Reuters. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  167. Reuters. "Doping: First cases on Russia cheats sent to federations | CreaWorldNews". Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  168. "IWF provisionally suspends seven more athletes based on McLaren and Moscow Lab". www.insidethegames.biz. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  169. "Russian doping scandal: Wada suspects Russia manipulated laboratory data". 21 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  170. "Russian doping scandal: Russian athletes remain suspended after Wada launches action". 23 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  171. "Russian doping scandal: Russia faces ban from all major sports events - Wada". 23 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  172. "WADA ban on Russia may not cover 2020 Olympics, but will then cover 2024 Olympics - CRC". www.uniindia.com.
  173. "Russian Athletics Federation President among officials charged by AIU". www.insidethegames.biz. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  174. "Euro 2020: Russia's staging of games under threat after Wada recommends ban". BBCSports.com. 26 November 2019.
  175. Reuters (26 November 2019). "Russia's sports officials cry foul as WADA eyes four-year Olympic ban". EuroNews.
  176. "Russia banned for four years to include 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Cup". BBC News. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  177. "Russia reacts with anger after doping ban from Olympics, World Cup". Singapore: CNA. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  178. "WADA suspend status of Moscow Laboratory in response to Russian data tampering". www.insidethegames.biz. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  179. "WADA hands over priority athlete cases to Anti-Doping Organizations in Russia investigation (30 April 2020)". World Anti-Doping Agency. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  180. Morgan, Liam (6 September 2016). "Exclusive: International Biathlon Union vice-president claims credibility of IOC undermined after Russia awarded 2021 World Championships". Inside the Games.
  181. Reynolds, Tim (13 December 2016). "Bobsled, skeleton officials moving worlds out of Russia". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016.
  182. Reynolds, Tim (11 December 2016). "Latvia's skeleton team to boycott worlds in Sochi over Russian doping scandal". Associated Press. CTV News.
  183. "Sochi loses right to host bobsleigh & skeleton World Championships". BBC News. 13 December 2016.
  184. Butler, Nick (21 December 2016). "Pressure growing on IBU to strip events from Russia as Czech Republic and Britain lead boycott calls". Inside the Games.
  185. "Russia loses sporting events as federations act on doping storm". Agence France-Presse. Yahoo News. 22 December 2016.
  186. "ISU Statement McLaren Report follow-up relocation of ISU World Cup Speed Skating - Chelyabinsk RUS". International Skating Union. 22 December 2016. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  187. "IOC investigates 28 Russian athletes over Sochi samples".
  188. "IBU Press Release: Extraordinary IBU Executive Board Meeting - International Biathlon Union - IBU - International Biathlon Union - IBU".
  189. "IBU Press Release - International Biathlon Union - IBU - International Biathlon Union - IBU". www.biathlonworld.com.
  190. "Doctor sacked by Fifa was investigating alleged Russian football doping". The Guardian. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  191. Ellingworth, James (2 August 2017). "Russians are back at track worlds as 'neutral athletes' with no anthem or colours". Toronto Star. Associated Press.
  192. "With one year until 2018 Winter Games, Russia's status murky". 9 February 2017.
  193. "Russia might be barred from the 2018 Paralympic Games". 1 February 2017.
  194. Heroux, Devin (14 August 2017). "'That country should be banned': Canadian athletes still angry about Russian doping". CBC News.
  195. "Neue Doping-Vorwürfe gegen Russland und Kenia". Die Welt (in German). 1 August 2015.
  196. "Doping: top secret – Russia's red herrings". Sportschau. 6 March 2016. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016.
  197. Keteyian, Armen (8 May 2016). "Russian doping at Sochi Winter Olympics exposed". 60 Minutes. CBS News.
  198. Guillou, Clément (2 June 2016). "Lanceurs d'alerte olympique, plongée documentaire dans les coulisses du dopage" [Olympic whistleblowers, documentary explores behind the scenes of doping]. Le Monde (in French).
  199. Ryan, Patrick. "Netflix's wild documentary 'Icarus' exposes Russian doping scandal". USA Today. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  200. Gibson, Owen (1 June 2016). "New doping report will influence decision on Russia's place at Olympics". The Guardian.
  201. Ingle, Sean (14 June 2016). "Athletes 'have lost faith' in IOC and Wada over Russia failures". The Guardian.
  202. "WADA Athlete Committee Statement on the McLaren Report". WADA Athlete Committee. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 23 July 2016.
  203. "iNADO calls for Ban of the Russian Delegations from the Rio Olympics and Paralympics" (PDF). Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations. 20 July 2016.
  204. Brennan, Christine (20 July 2016). "Anti-doping leaders call on IOC to ban Russia immediately from Rio Olympics". USA Today.
  205. Ingle, Sean (20 July 2016). "Dick Pound fears IOC reluctant to ban entire Russia team from Olympics". The Guardian.
  206. Arthur, Bruce (23 July 2016). "Russian doping scandal has IOC wandering into uncharted territory". Toronto Star.
  207. Hinds, Richard (23 July 2016). "Banning Russia from Rio won't mark success in the war on doping, it will just highlight previous failings". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney).
  208. "Olympics: No blanket ban for Russia -- who's saying what". Global Post. Agence France-Presse. 24 July 2016.
  209. "Rio Olympics 2016: Wada criticises IOC for failing to ban Russian team". BBC News. 24 July 2016.
  210. "Canadian athletes critical of IOC decision". The Hamilton Spectator. The Guardian Press. 24 July 2016.
  211. Ingle, Sean (24 July 2016). "Greg Rutherford calls IOC decision over Russia team for Rio 'spineless'". The Guardian.
  212. "British Olympians slam 'spineless IOC' over Russia". Agence France-Presse. Yahoo Sports. 25 July 2016.
  213. Hayward, Paul (25 July 2016). "International Olympic Committee's dereliction of duty over Russia weakens bond between spectator and spectacle". The Daily Telegraph.
  214. Gibson, Owen (24 July 2016). "IOC chooses obfuscation and chaos on Russia competing at Olympics". The Guardian.
  215. Macur, Juliet (26 July 2016). "Russia Decision Muddies Legacy of I.O.C. President Thomas Bach". The New York Times.
  216. Armour, Nancy (24 July 2016). "IOC's decision on Russia a copout". USA Today.
  217. Cole, Cam (24 July 2016). "IOC abdicates its responsibility in Russian doping case on the wings of money and mythology". National Post.
  218. Hines, Nico (24 July 2016). "Spineless IOC Surrenders Olympic Integrity to Russia Forever". The Daily Beast.
  219. Gerstenberger, Olivia (24 July 2016). "Opinion: A non-decision from the IOC". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016.
  220. National Anti-Doping Organisations of Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, US (31 July 2016). "Russian doping scandal: 'When it mattered most, the IOC failed to lead'". The Guardian.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  221. Kelso, Paul (16 September 2016). "Investigator who exposed Russian doping hits out at IOC". Sky News.
  222. Ford, Bonnie D. (15 March 2017). "Are Russian authorities ready to cooperate in drug scandal investigation?". ESPN.
  223. MacFarquhar, Neil (21 July 2016). "A Doping Scandal Appears Unlikely to Tarnish Russia's President". The New York Times.
  224. Bershidsky, Leonid (10 November 2015). "Doping Shows Russia Is Rotten, But Not Hopeless". Bloomberg View.
  225. Grohmann, Karolos; Stubbs, Jack (14 August 2016). "Russia athletics suffers final disgrace as last competitor barred". Reuters.
  226. Ferguson, Kate (18 June 2016). "Vladimir Putin insists 'Russia does not support doping'". The Scotsman.
  227. Kramer, Andrew E. (17 June 2016). "Olympic Ban Adds to Russia's Culture of Grievances". The New York Times.
  228. Nemtsova, Anna (17 June 2016). "Russia: America and the West 'Invented' Olympic Doping Scandal to 'Humiliate' Us". The Daily Beast.
  229. McGowan, Tom; Sinnott, John (21 July 2016). "Russia Olympic ban: Six questions answered". CNN.
  230. "Rio Olympics 2016: Russia fails to overturn athlete ban for next month's Games". BBC News. 21 July 2016.
  231. "Most Russians Unconvinced by WADA Doping Reports – Poll". The Moscow Times. 29 July 2016.
  232. "IAAF Taskforce: Interim report to IAAF Council, 17 June 2016" (PDF). IAAF. 17 June 2016.
  233. Schmidt, Friedrich; Hanfeld, Michael (11 June 2016). "Stell dir vor, das russische Staatsfernsehen kommt" [When Russian TV shows up]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German).
  234. Majendie, Matt (16 June 2016). "Dick Pound warns of chaos if IOC overrule IAAF over Russia's bid for Olympic Games". London Evening Standard.
  235. Rescheto, Juri (9 June 2016). "Opinion: Russia's parallel universe". Deutsche Welle.
  236. "Russia Blames Others for Its Doping Woes". The New York Times. 29 August 2016.
  237. Osborn, Andrew (22 July 2016). "Doping scandal rocks Russian sport but Putin's ratings look safe". Reuters.
  238. Luhn, Alec (24 July 2016). "Russia greets IOC decision on Rio Games with relief and jubilation". The Guardian.
  239. "US doping chief says IOC have left a 'confusing mess'". www.rte.ie. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016.
  240. Powell, Michael (4 August 2016). "I.O.C. Chief Thomas Bach Supports a Peculiar Form of Justice on Doping". The New York Times.
  241. "GBR Lead Boycott of WC 8 in Tyumen RUS". British Biathlon. 21 December 2016.
  242. "Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets owner, paid Russian Olympic athlete millions of rubles to keep quiet amid doping scandal: report". Daily News (New York). 7 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  243. "Russian sports gripped by distrust, anger ahead of key doping vote". CBC. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  244. "Putin: Doping allegations 'US plot against Russian election'". BBC News. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  245. "Russian Olympic official says doping whistleblower should be executed". The Guardian. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  246. "The 2018 Winter Olympics Are Already Tainted". The New York Times. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  247. "IOC accused of cowardice for failing to address Russian retaliation against Rodchenkov". Inside the Games. 26 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  248. "Путин считает важным, что в заключении МОК нет выводов о господдержке допинга в России". Тасс.
  249. "IOC suspends Russian NOC and creates a path for clean individual athletes to compete in PyeongChang 2018 under the Olympic Flag". Olympic. 5 December 2017.
  250. "Валуев: нужно ехать на Олимпиаду и рвать всех назло этим гадам". Спорт FM. 23 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  251. Ortiz, Eirk (14 February 2018). "Russian fans spurn 'stupid' ban on athletes at Olympic Games". NBC News.
  252. Peters, Justin (12 February 2018). ""Olympic Athletes From Russia" Is a Craven Euphemism for a Craven Olympic Games". Slate. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  253. "IOC Chief Disappointed by Court Lifting Doping Ban on Russians". RFERL. 4 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  254. "28 Russians have Olympic doping bans lifted". NBC Sorts. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  255. "Muehlegg, Lazutina test positive, stripped of golds". ESPN.com. Associated Press. 24 February 2002.
  256. "Drugs test denies Lazutina gold". BBC News. 24 February 2002.
  257. "Lazutina loses Olympic medals". BBC News. 29 June 2003.
  258. "Shot-put champion will lose gold". CNN. 22 August 2004.
  259. "Four Athens competitors stripped of medals". Al Jazeera. 5 December 2012.
  260. "Russian weightlifter, Oleg Perepetchenov, stripped of Athens bronze medal". Reuters. 12 February 2013.
  261. "Russian Woman Stripped of Biathlon Medal". NBCSports.com. Associated Press. 16 February 2006. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  262. "IOC sanctions Yulia Chermoshanskaya for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008". 25 January 2017.
  263. "IOC sanctions three athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008". International Olympic Committee. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  264. "IOC sanctions six athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008". International Olympic Committee. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  265. "IOC sanctions four athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008 and London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  266. "9 Olympians, including 6 medallists, caught for Beijing doping". cbc.ca. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  267. "IOC sanctions nine athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008". International Olympic Committee. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  268. "Russian Chicherova stripped of 2008 Olympics high jump medal". reuters.com. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  269. "IOC sanctions Anna Chicherova for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008". 25 January 2017.
  270. "IOC sanctions 16 athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008". International Olympic Committee. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  271. "IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008". 31 May 2017.
  272. "IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008 and London 2012". 18 May 2017.
  273. "IOC sanctions Tatyana Lysenko for failing anti-doping test at London 2012". 25 January 2017.
  274. "The decisions of the Lausanne (Switzerland) Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding the Russian Athletes". 16 March 2016. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  275. "IOC sanctions 12 athletes for failing anti-doping test at London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  276. "London 2012 50km walk men - Olympic Athletics". 3 June 2017.
  277. Sean, Ingle (29 November 2016). "Jessica Ennis-Hill in line for 2011 gold as Chernova is stripped of world title". The Guardian.
  278. "Russia's Pishchalnikova given 10-year doping ban". Reuters. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  279. "IOC sanctions Evgeniia Kolodko for failing anti-doping test at London 2012". olympic.org. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  280. "London 2012 20km race walk women - Olympic Athletics". 3 June 2017.
  281. "IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping test at London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  282. "IOC sanctions three athletes for failing anti-doping tests at London 2012". International Olympic Committee. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  283. "More Russian track athletes banned for doping at London Olympics - CBC Sports".
  284. "IOC sanctions four Russian athletes as part of Oswald Commission findings". 24 November 2017.
  285. "Russian bobsledder banned over doping". France 24. 18 December 2017. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  286. "IOC sanctions five Russian athletes and publishes first full decision as part of the Oswald Commission findings". 27 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  287. "IOC sanctions five Russian athletes and publishes first full decision as part of the Oswald Commission findings". International Olympic Committee. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  288. "IOC sanctions three Russian athletes as part of Oswald Commission findings". 1 December 2017.
  289. "CAS to strip Olympic medals from Russian boxer, Romanian weightlifter". espn.com. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  290. "#NoRussiaNoGames: Twitter 'bots' boost Russian backlash against Olympic ban". 9 December 2017 via Reuters.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.