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Grigory Rodchenkov

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Grigory Rodchenkov
Григорий Михайлович Родченков
File:Grigory Mikhailovich Rodchenkov.jpg
Born (1958-10-24) 24 October 1958 (age 65)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Awards

Grigory Mikhailovich Rodchenkov (Russian: Григорий Михайлович Родченков; born 24 October 1958) is the former director of Russia's national anti-doping laboratory, the Anti-Doping Center, which was suspended by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in November 2015 for facilitating Russia's elaborate state-sponsored doping program. Rodchenkov helped develop and distribute banned performance enhancing substances for thousands of Russian Olympians from 2005 to 2015.[1] He made headlines in 2016 as a whistleblower, helping expose the complex and extensive nature of Russia's doping program. His revelations were confirmed by the independent McLaren Report, leading to Russia's partial ban from the 2016 Summer Olympics and total ban from the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Rodchenkov is currently in witness protection in the United States, as he is believed to be the target of Russian agents seeking retaliation for his whistleblowing.[2] Two major Russian anti-doping executives, including Rodchenkov's friend Nikita Kamaev, suspiciously and unexpectedly died in the months before Rodchenkov went public with his story.[3]

Rodchenkov and his connections to Russian doping was the subject of the 2017 Netflix documentary Icarus, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Oscars ceremony.

According to McLaren’s summary of the evidence provided by Dr. Rodchenkov, a key aspect of the doping scheme was the creation and use of a so-called “Sochi Duchess List”. This list contained the names of 37 Russian athletes “whose samples were to be automatically swapped for their own clean urine stored in the FSB Command Center at Sochi”. Those athletes’ samples needed to be swapped because the athletes “had been authorised to use the cocktail of oxandrolone, methenolone and trenbolone during the Games” [[1]]. The Russian Olympic Committee insists that the Duchess List is nothing more than a competition schedule, which was prepared ahead of the Sochi Games for the purpose of identifying potential medalists.

In particular, between July and December 2016, Dr. Rodchenkov changed his testimony regarding his knowledge of the methodology that the FSB allegedly used to open the sealed B sample bottles at the Sochi Games, similarly, Dr. Rodchenkov has provided inconsistent accounts regarding the composition of the alleged Duchess Cocktail. The “cocktail” was originally described as a mixture of trenbolone, oxandrolone and methasterone; but was subsequently described as containing metenolone, not methasterone. Dr. Rodchenkov stated that the word "methasterone" in the original was a misprint. Arbitral Award Delivered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS 2017/A/5379 Alexander Legkov v. International Olympic Committee (IOC), pp. 66-67. According to the document published by CAS on 23 April 2018, Rodchenkov stated that he had never distributed the Duchess Cocktail, seen an athlete take the mixture or instruction being given to either them or to coaches to use the substance. Furthermore, he claimed that he never saw an athlete give a clear urine sample or “tamper with a doping sample.” Dr. Rodchenkov also stated that: (a) he “never observed first hand any bottles being opened or de-capped”; (b) accordingly, he did not know the “precise method” used to open the bottles; but (c) he did see a “table with instruments that resembled a dentist’s tools”.[4]

Life and career

In 2005, Rodchenkov became the director of the Anti-Doping Center, Russia's national anti-doping laboratory. He and his sister, champion runner Marina Rodchenkova [ru], were under investigation in 2011 for trafficking performance enhancing substances for Russian athletes and extorting them to conceal positive drug tests.[5][6] To avoid arrest, Rodchenkov attempted suicide and was hospitalized with a diagnosis of a paranoid personality disorder. Charges against him were eventually dropped by Russian officials in exchange for his cooperation in leading Russia's doping program for the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[7] Rodchenkov claims the orders for his release came from Russian president Vladimir Putin himself.[5] Rodchenkov's sister, however, was convicted and sentenced to a year and a half in prison.[8][9]

British journalist Nick Harris claims to have contacted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with allegations about the laboratory in early July 2013.[10] WADA officials and IOC members conducted two subsequent interviews of Rodchenkov on 26 March 2015 and 30 June 2015, where on both occasions, he admitted to intentionally destroying the 1,417 samples in order to limit the extent of WADA's audit and to reduce any potential adverse findings from subsequent analysis by another WADA accredited laboratory.[6] In November 2015, the laboratory was suspended by the WADA following a report alleging state-sponsored doping in Russia.[11] In February 2016, two former directors of RUSADA, Vyacheslav Sinyev and Nikita Kamaev, mysteriously died.[12] Fearing for his safety, Rodchenkov fled to the United States.[13]

Rodchenkov discussed doping at the Sochi Olympics with whistle-blower Vitaly Stepanov, who recorded 15 hours of their conversations without his knowledge.[13] Rodchenkov also gave details to The New York Times, alleging that the Federal Security Service (FSB) was involved in covering up positive doping samples.[14] In July 2016, the McLaren Report, an independent investigation commissioned by WADA found corroborating evidence after conducting witness interviews, reviewing thousands of documents, cyber analysis of hard drives, forensic analysis of urine sample collection bottles, and laboratory analysis of individual athlete samples, with "more evidence becoming available by the day."[15] The Moscow laboratory "operated under State oversight and control" and "personnel were required to be part of the State directed system that enabled Russian athletes to compete while engaging in the use of doping substances".[16]

On 9 December 2016, McLaren published the second part of his independent report. The investigation found that from 2011 to 2015, more than 1,000 Russian competitors in various sports (including summer, winter, and Paralympic sports) benefited from the cover-up.[17][18] Emails indicate that they included five blind powerlifters, who may have been given drugs without their knowledge, and a fifteen-year-old.[19]

Reactions

Following the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Rodchenkov the Order of Friendship.[14] In 2016, after the doping allegations were widely reported, Putin called Rodchenkov a "man with a scandalous reputation."[20]

The McLaren Report stated that Rodchenkov was "an integral part of the conspiracy to extort money from athletes in order to cover up positive doping test results".[6] It also found that Rodchenkov was truthful with respect to the subject matter under investigation.[16]

In November 2017, an IOC panel concluded: "Whatever his motivation may be and whichever wrongdoing he may have committed in the past, Dr. Rodchenkov was telling the truth when he provided explanations of the cover-up scheme that he managed."[21][16]

On December 5, 2017, it was announced that Russia would be banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics.[22] Following the announcement, Jim Walden, an attorney for Rodchenkov, issued a statement applauding the decision by the IOC that sends "a powerful message that it will not tolerate state-sponsored cheating by any nation."

As the world has seen, Dr. Rodchenkov provided credible and irrefutable evidence of the Russian state-sponsored doping system," Walden said in a statement. "Russia's consistent denials lack any credibility, and its failure to produce all evidence in its possession only further confirms its high-level complicity.[22]

Russia's doping program and Rodchenkov's work was highlighted in testimony before the U.S. Helsinki Commission (also known as the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe) in Washington, DC on February 22, 2018. During that hearing, Walden discussed Rodchenkov's work in detail and suggested that the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee needed to do more to restore integrity to international sport.[23]

In Russia

Russian news agency TASS reported that sports minister Pavel Kolobkov said the investigative committee found no evidence to support the state operated a doping system. That committee seeks Rodchenkov's extradition from the United States, where he is in witness protection. Despite assertions from Russian officials that no system existed, "empirical evidence is totally to the contrary," IOC member Dick Pound said, adding, "so I think what we're seeing in the Russian press is for domestic consumption."[24]

Icarus

Rodchenkov was featured in the 2017 Netflix documentary Icarus, directed by Bryan Fogel. In Icarus, Rodchenkov describes his involvement in a conspiracy to help Russian athletes to beat doping tests in the Olympic Games.[25] On March 4, 2018, Icarus won Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

References

  1. ^ Ruiz, Rebecca R.; Schwirtz, Michael (2016-05-12). "Russian Insider Says State-Run Doping Fueled Olympic Gold". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  2. ^ CNN, David Stokes,. "Doping whistleblower urges Russia to come clean". CNN. Retrieved 2017-12-08. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Second former Russian anti-doping official dies suddenly". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  4. ^ http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Award__5379__internet.pdf
  5. ^ a b "Icarus | Netflix Official Site". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  6. ^ a b c https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/wada_independent_commission_report_1_en.pdf
  7. ^ Yuan, Jada. "How Icarus Director Bryan Fogel Documented the Russian Olympic Doping Scandal". Vulture. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  8. ^ "Все мозги разбил на части. Родченков спасся от тюрьмы в психушке". 13 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Сестру директора антидопинговой лаборатории осудили за сбыт допинга". NEWSru. 12 April 2013.
  10. ^ Harris, Nick (25 July 2016). "The story behind the story of Russia, doping and the I.O.C". Sporting Intelligence.
  11. ^ "WADA suspends Moscow anti-doping laboratory". Deutsche Welle. 10 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Russian anti-doping official planned book before sudden death - CBC Sports". Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  13. ^ a b Keteyian, Armen (8 May 2016). "Russian doping at Sochi Winter Olympics exposed". 60 Minutes / CBS News.
  14. ^ a b Ruiz, Rebecca R.; Schwirtz, Michael (12 May 2016). "Russian Insider Says State-Run Doping Fueled Olympic Gold". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "McLaren Independent Investigations Report into Sochi Allegations". World Anti-Doping Agency. 18 July 2016.
  16. ^ a b c "Decision of the IOC Disciplinary Commission: Alexander Legkov" (PDF). olympic.org. November 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Ruiz, Rebecca R. (9 December 2016). "Russia's Doping Program Laid Bare by Extensive Evidence in Report". The New York Times.
  18. ^ Ostlere, Lawrence (9 December 2016). "McLaren report: more than 1,000 Russian athletes involved in doping conspiracy". The Guardian.
  19. ^ Ellingworth, James (13 December 2016). "Emails show how Russian officials covered up mass doping". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Russian doping: Who is whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov?". BBC News. 19 July 2016.
  21. ^ "IOC judges back truthful whistleblower, ban 5 more Russians". Associated Press. Yahoo News. 27 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 November 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ a b Hobson, Will (2017-12-05). "Russia banned from 2018 Olympics for widespread doping program". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  23. ^ "Attorney Speaks Russia's Doping Program, Feb 22 2018 | Video". C-SPAN. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  24. ^ "Doping scandal: WADA to decide whether Russia is in compliance with code". USA Today. November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  25. ^ Ryan, Patrick. "Netflix's wild documentary 'Icarus' exposes Russian doping scandal". USA Today. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
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