Investigation confirms numerous Russian officials were involved in doping scheme

A report by the World Anti-Doping Agency released Monday confirmed accusations by Russia's former anti-doping lab director, Grigory Rodchenkov, that the Russian government orchestrated an elaborate cheating scheme at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The report, produced by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, concluded "beyond a reasonable doubt" that "Russia's ministry of sport, its antidoping organization, and the country's federal security service" were involved in covering up the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes at the Sochi Games, The New York Times reported.

Just as Rodchenkov claimed back in May, the investigation found that tamper-proof bottles containing urine samples were broken into, and that contaminated samples taken from medal-winning athletes were swapped out. "The surprise result of the Sochi investigation was the revelation of the extent of state oversight and directed control of the Moscow laboratory in processing, and covering up urine samples of Russian athletes from virtually all sports before and after the Sochi Games," McLaren wrote in the report.

Russia said last week that if the report were to find any of the allegations to be true, the World Anti-Doping Agency would also bear responsibility for inadequately monitoring regulatory facilities. The Washington Post reported anti-doping officials in the U.S. and Canada have already prepared a letter calling for all Russian athletes to be barred from this summer's Rio Olympics.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up