The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov. He is charged with obstructing the investigation and in the destruction of doping tests. Russia intends to extradite Rodchenkov, who has been living in the United States since 2015. Anna Redkina — on what evidence was found against the WADA informant.
You can see his face more often now on the TV, his name is on the front pages of many newspapers. The biggest sports denouncer Grigory Rodchenkov is interesting for the Western press again. Exactly with the same set of facts and arguments as last year, but is it enough for the conversation, in which the interlocutor has something to respond?
Svetlana Petrenko, official representative of the ICR: "The investigation interrogated more than 700 athletes, coaches, medical workers of the Russian national teams, sports federation staff, Center for Sports Training of the Russian National Teams, RUSADA and the Anti-Doping Center. But none of them confirmed the existence of a certain doping program. If there were any violations of the anti-doping rules, they were of a purely individual nature. As part of the investigative actions in the criminal case, the premises of the building were inspected which was used as an anti-doping laboratory during the Olympic Games. McLaren didn’t do this in the course of his investigation".
Rodchenkov's accusations sounded like a fantasy from the very beginning. Security chiefs serving the corrupt athletes, exchange of samples through а secret door right during а test, and, of course, famous doped-cocktails with whiskey for men, and with vermouth for women. This very information deprived us of the summer Olympics in Brazil, and now the winter Olympics is put in question.
Yuri Borodavko, coach of the Russian skiing team: "In fact, our athletes were convicted for the fact that after they passed tests, someone scratched something. This is speculation. There’s only one list of Rodchenkov that says that everyone took some soda with alcohol. This is nonsense based on the words of a person who has a motive for shaming the country, where he lived, and those people, the athletes with whom he worked".
The anti-doping justice issued lifelong disqualification to multiple prize-winners of international competitions Alexander Legkov, Evgeny Belov and Maxim Vylegzhanin.
Yuri Borodavko, Ski Racing Trainer: "Everyone's fighting for him, everyone's with him, he is in a state of shock, he was deprived of the most important thing he was striving for, prepared, dedicated the best years of his life, the Olympic Games".
The text of the reasoning part of the decision is not available neither to the public, nor to the athletes themselves. It will be published in the near future, but the disciplinary commission of the IOC has something to conceal. However, some facts can be placed in one line. For example, on October 27 the commission of the University of Lausanne did not find traces of the opening of containers in the samples of Russians.
Mikhail Degtyarev, Sports Committee Chairman: "They're trying to blame us, by saying we had some kind of a state system of doping support, but it turns out the opposite: there was a man planted, who spoiled the samples of our athletes and for this reason, the Olympic Committee suspended our skiers today. Not because Legkov took dope, but because his test was opened but who opened it? We need to look at who benefits from this".
By the way, we are not the only victim of such accusations. The media recently published an interview with a former doctor of the Chinese team.
Xue Yinxian said: All the medals of the 80's and 90's the Chinese won solely through stimulants.
The interview was taken by the journalists of the German ARD. The same as the first pseudo-exposures concerning Russia. But the dope did not become a new Klondike for the media market. Ratings of the series "Icarus" with Grigory Rodchenkov in the lead role now are too low. And Hajo Seppelt's tapes are just dusting in the archives. The spectator, like an athlete, prefers fair play to backstage intrigues.
Anna Redkina, Vesti
