Russian state doped more than 1,000 athletes and corrupted London 2012

The London 2012 Olympics were “corrupted on an unprecedented scale” by Russia’s government and sports authorities, who colluded to ensure the country’s sportspeople were able to take a cocktail of banned performance-enhancing drugs yet evade doping tests, it has been revealed.

A report by the respected Canadian law professor Richard McLaren on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency also found evidence that more than 1,000 Russians athletes across more than 30 sports – including football – were involved in or benefited from state-sponsored doping between 2011 and 2015.

McLaren said he had found “an institutional conspiracy across summer, winter and Paralympic sports” in Russia and “a cover-up that operated on an unprecedented scale”.

He added: “It it impossible to know just how deep and how far back this conspiracy goes. For years, international sports competitions have unknowingly been hijacked by the Russians. Coaches and athletes have been playing on an uneven field. Sports fans and spectators have been deceived.”
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In particular McLaren pointed to Russia’s behaviour before the London 2012 Olympics, with many athletes given a cocktail of undetectable steroids by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency before the Games. The athletes were then subject to “washout testing”, used to ensure they did not test positive at the Olympics.

“The results speak for themselves,” said McLaren. “The Russian team won 24 gold, 26 silver and 32 bronze medals. No Russian athlete was found positive for a prohibited substance during the Games and the testing at the time.

“Yet the Russian Olympic team corrupted the London Games on an unprecedented scale, the extent of which will probably never be fully established.”...
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/ ... red-doping