The World Anti-Doping Agency has "opened an investigation into allegations of Russian doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics," according to Matt McGeehan of the PA. WADA will "look into claims," broadcast by CBS 60 Minutes in the U.S. on Sunday, that "numerous Russian athletes used performance-enhancing drugs at the Winter Games." WADA President Craig Reedie said, "WADA will probe these new allegations immediately." WADA is now looking into the latest claims, which Reedie described as "a real cause for concern." A WADA statement said, "On the basis of recorded conversations between (whistleblower) Vitaly Stepanov and the former Moscow laboratory director, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the broadcast claims that numerous Russian athletes were doped at Sochi; including four Gold Medalists that were using steroids. ... WADA has not yet been able to independently verify these allegations, but will now conduct further inquiries into the allegations without delay" (PA, 5/10).
RUSSIAN DEFENSE: REUTERS' Ian Chadband reported Russia's sports ministry said on Monday it was "certain" about the transparency of its doping controls during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and that independent observers had managed the testing operation daily. The ministry was "responding to allegations of a testing cover-up at the Sochi Games that included the use of intelligence agents from the country's Federal Security Service, known as the FSB." Whistleblower Vitaly Stepanov told CBS News in an interview that the former head of Russia's drug testing laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, had "informed him he had evidence of a testing cover-up during more than 15 hours of taped conversations." Rodchenkov also said that "at least four" Russian Gold Medalists in '14 were using steroids (REUTERS, 5/10).
NEARLY ABORTED: REUTERS' Gene Cherry reported Stepanov said that he "nearly aborted his plan to expose widespread doping in Russian athletics" when WADA was "slow to act on information he provided them." Stepanov, who previously worked for Russia's anti-doping agency, said that "he second-guessed himself countless times during a three-year stretch where information he fed to WADA did not lead to action." Stepanov said, "I was falling asleep and telling myself I am an idiot. That was probably my thought a lot of times. Especially after each major competition that was thought. What am I doing?" WADA spokesperson Ben Nichols said on Monday that "the agency acted as soon as it could." According to Nichols, before '15, WADA "did not have the authority to conduct its own investigations under the World Anti-Doping Code." U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said, "From a clean athlete prospective, it is really hard to stomach that they didn't. It rattles confidence in the system" (REUTERS, 5/10).
OLYMPIC DREAM: In a separate piece, Cherry wrote even "through all the turmoil that forced Yuliya Stepanova to flee her native Russia with her husband, the whistleblower has not given up hope of competing at the Rio Olympics in August." The IAAF Council "will decide on June 17 whether to reinstate Russian athletics." It will also "act on a request by Stepanova, who served a two-year doping ban," to run in Rio under the IOC flag and to return to int'l competition. Obviously, the 800m runner "would not be welcome to run for Russia." She said, "It would be a dream come true to be an Olympian, something I had always hoped to do" (REUTERS, 5/9).
EXCLUSION 'GETS YOU NOWHERE': REUTERS' Ian Ransom reported Kevan Gosper, a leading Olympic official and a member of the ethics board of world athletics governing body the IAAF, "would like to see Russia's track and field athletes compete at the Rio de Janeiro Games in August." As the IAAF examines whether to lift the Russian federation's suspension, Gosper said that "it was his personal hope that their athletes would not be excluded." Gosper said, "For a country as big and important in world affairs, let alone sport, as Russia, I would rather see a solution to what's been happening and a change of heart, a change of culture and a commitment to the future and still see them participate rather than be excluded. I think exclusion gets you nowhere" (REUTERS, 5/9).
