Former WADA President Dick Pound, who headed an independent commission that uncovered evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia, said that "new allegations of a drugs cover-up at the Sochi Olympics may be hard to prove," according to Steve Keating of REUTERS. Whistleblower Vitaly Stepanov said that the former head of Russia's drug testing lab "told him that at least four" Russian Gold Medal winners at the 2014 Winter Games were using steroids. WADA announced on Tuesday it would "investigate the new allegations" and could ask the IOC for a re-test of the Sochi doping samples. Given the "sophistication of the state-sponsored doping uncovered by his investigation, Pound was skeptical that, if four Medalists did indeed test positive, it would be for steroids." He said, "They (WADA) could certainly ask the IOC if they would do that (re-test samples). By and large with steroids, especially if it is a state-run thing, they are pretty good about the clearance times. It is the not-so-gifted amateurs that sometimes get the clearance times wrong and end up testing positive" (REUTERS, 5/11).
'JUST FAKE': The AP reported in the opinion of the whistleblower who uncovered Russia’s doping scourge, most of the changes in the country’s track and anti-doping programs are "just fake." Stepanov, who along with his wife, Yulia, "blew the lid" off systemic doping in Russia, said that he has not "seen enough reform or penalties to make him believe the team could be clean by the time the Olympics start in August." He said, "Those 80 percent of coaches must be sanctioned. I’ve seen a few coaches facing lifetime bans, but others, they still prefer to hide everything. All the changes being shown are just fake ones" (AP, 5/12).
NEW KENYAN CRISIS: The BBC's Dan Roan reported Kenya has been "declared in breach of global anti-doping rules." The "surprise move will mean some of the world's top athletes are at risk of missing August's Olympic Games in Rio." WADA's compliance committee ruled the country "non-compliant" when its board met in Montreal on Thursday, citing "issues with anti-doping legislation." The recommendation "needs to be ratified" by the WADA board. Last month Kenya "passed legislation that created a new national anti-doping agency." It was "widely assumed" that the measure would satisfy WADA. But it will now be up to the IOC to "decide whether to ban Kenyan athletes from the Rio Games or any other competitions" (BBC, 5/12).
