Russia state-sponsored doping at Sochi Olympics confirmed by WADA report

A report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency has found that Russia’s sports ministry directed, controlled and oversaw doping and the manipulation of tests by Russian athletes and officials at the 2014 Sochi winter Olympics. The findings are fuelling calls for the ban of the entire Russian delegation from the 2016 Rio summer games.

At a Toronto news conference Monday morning, Canadian law professor and sports lawyer Richard McLaren unveiled the findings of the report which concluded that a Moscow laboratory protected Russian athletes during the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. McLaren was a member of WADA’s independent commission that exposed Russia’s athletics program for widespread doping and corruption leading to the ban on all of Russia’s track and field athletes from Rio. McLaren said the investigation, which he has unwavering confidence in, found that the Russian Ministry of Sport oversaw the manipulation of athletes’ analytical results and sample swapping at the 2014 winter games.

What sports were affected by Russian state sponsored doping? pic.twitter.com/dN8z6diZsw

— Jamie Strashin (@StrashinCBC) July 18, 2016

Before the findings of the report, several anti-doping agencies, including those of Canada and the United States called for a ban of Russia’s entire delegation for Rio. The finding of the report will further fuel those calls. Russian cyclists who have qualified for Rio include Ilnur Zakarin, Pavel Kochetkov and Sergey Chernetskiy from the WorldTour Katusha squad for road cycling, and Olga Zabelinskaya who has served an 18 month ban for octopamine in 2014 and 2015. Russia also qualified 14 athletes in track cycling and mountain biking.

The report was commissioned on May 19 as a result of Grigory Rodchenkov, a director of a prominent anti-doping laboratory, claims that he had facilitated a state-sponsored doping program run by Russia’s intelligence agency during the Sochi Olympics. The were reportedly switching urine smaples through a hole in the laboratory’s wall to ensure athletes would not test positive for banned substances.

The Russian government has repeatedly denied the claims while Russia’s Olympic chief Alexander Zhukov has said that the accusations are part of a campaign to bar Russian athletes from participating at the Rio Olympics.

Earlier this year Russian ITT champion Tatiana Antoshina of Astana women’s team was suspended for doping