Three Russian cyclists have "taken legal action" against the World Anti-Doping Agency and Canadian doping investigator Richard McLaren, according to Dan Roan of the BBC. Kirill Sveshnikov, Dmitry Strakhov and Dmitry Sokolov were unable to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympics "after Russian athletes were banned from competing." The McLaren report, an independent study commissioned by WADA, "found evidence of state-sponsored doping." The cyclists allege they were "unfairly implicated." They "all deny cheating," but lost an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport before the Games. The McLaren report did not name Sveshnikov, Strakhov or Sokolov but the cyclists said that they "suffered great reputational harm," and filed a lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice claiming damages. Sveshnikov said, "Together, WADA and Dr. Richard McLaren prevented us from reaching our lifelong goal of participating in the Rio Olympics, the pinnacle of our sport, and we allege that they wrongly associated our names with cheaters and doping" (BBC, 9/11).
