Is this the end of the road for Russia鈥檚 chances of going to Rio?聽A two-month investigation commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency has uncovered evidence of 鈥渟tate-directed, fail-safe鈥� doping throughout Russian Olympic sport.
The investigation鈥檚 chairman Richard McLaren delivered three main findings at a press conference in Toronto today聽鈥� that doped samples 鈥渄isappeared鈥� from the anti-doping laboratory in Moscow, that they were swapped with clean samples at the laboratory for the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 and that these plans were directed by the Russian sports ministry.
McLaren said he had 鈥渦nwavering confidence鈥� in his findings, which will surely lead to even louder calls for Russia to be banned from the Rio Olympics.
Advertisement
This investigation was set up in May following an interview in the New York Times with the former director of Moscow鈥檚 anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, in which he described an elaborate plan to ensure Russian success at Sochi 2014.
Rodchenkov, who was sacked after the first WADA-funded investigation into doping in Russian athletics last year, has been in hiding in the United States ever since and has been branded a 鈥渃riminal鈥� and a 鈥渢raitor鈥� by senior Russian figures.
Last month the agency released details of how some of the country鈥檚 sportspeople have .
State cheating
But McLaren鈥檚 鈥渋ntense鈥� 57-day investigation has completely vindicated the remarkable tale of state-sponsored cheating that he outlined in print in May.
McLaren, who also worked on that initial investigation into Russian athletics, said his team had used forensic analysis, seized computers, studied data and performed extra tests on stored samples from the Sochi Games and other major events.
Rodchenkov, for example, had claimed that the Russian secret service (FSB) had worked out how to open and re-seal the supposedly tamper-proof bottles that are used for storing urine samples so that the contents could be replaced with 鈥渃lean鈥� urine.
To prove this allegation, McLaren sent a random amount of samples from 鈥減rotected Russian athletes鈥� at Sochi 2014 stored by the anti-doping laboratory in Lausanne to a lab in London to see if they had scratch marks around the necks of the bottles that would indicate they had been manipulated.
McLaren said 鈥�100 per cent of the bottles had been scratched鈥� although added that this would 鈥渘ot have been visible to the untrained eye鈥�.
He said he had 鈥渦nwavering confidence鈥� in the 103-page report鈥檚 findings, having only included items that could be proven 鈥渂eyond reasonable doubt鈥�.
Read more: How gene tests and hair analysis could catch doping athletes