Former Russian Anti-Doping Chief Was Writing Book Before Sudden Death

Former Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA) Dir Nikita Kamayev "was writing a book about his work before his sudden death on Sunday," according to Broadbent & Parfitt of the LONDON TIMES. Kamayev, 52, "ignored friends' advice and had begun working on an account of his time" at RUSADA. He resigned in December "amid allegations that Russia was running a state-sponsored doping system." The news that "he was working on a potentially explosive book will increase speculation about his death." RUSADA said that "the preliminary cause of death was a heart attack after a morning of cross-country skiing." Ramil Khabriyev, a former general director of RUSADA, said that "a post-mortem examination confirmed that the cause of death was problems with the heart." Khabriyev said that Kamayev "had spoken to relatives of feeling discomfort after physical exercise" (LONDON TIMES, 2/17).