The director of Russia’s anti-doping lab said dozens of Russian athletes used a cocktail of drugs to win medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, reported The New York Times on May 12.
The litany that is FIFA’s ongoing corruption scandal continues to be one of the biggest investigative takedowns the world of sport has ever seen. Blatter has gone. Platini has gone. Bin Hammam is gone. In fact, almost everyone who has sat at FIFA’s executive top-table over the last decade has gone. Yet, for all the carnage that lies in the wake of the bans and suspensions imposed upon football’s governors across the world, it is worth remembering that these sanctions have been enforced in response to off-field misdemeanours. Not so with athletics.
Leaders of the World Anti-Doping Agency declared Russia’s anti-doping operation out of compliance Wednesday—a harsh, though expected blow to a country accused of widespread corruption throughout its sports.
The day after the 2014 Sochi Olympics ended with Russia atop the medals table, a beaming President Vladimir Putin presented his athletes with state awards for “defending the honor” of their country by showing that its “great and glorious” sports traditions were still strong.
Russia’s status as a sports superpower and its participation in track and field events at next year’s Olympics came under threat Monday after a report accused the Russians of widespread, state-supported doping reminiscent of the darkest days of cheating by the former East Germany.