Russian Sports Doping Scandal

Date: December 2014—

Place: Russia

Summary

The Russian sports doping scandal is a controversy that began in 2014 and peaked in 2018, when the Russian Olympic team was banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Investigative journalism and official investigations exposed a widespread, state-sponsored doping program in Russian athletics, particularly Olympic events, with a large number of Russian athletes implicated. The size and scale of the operation have generated further debates over the effectiveness of anti-doping efforts, the credibility of sports governing authorities, and the responses to abuses of performance-enhancing substances.

Key Events

  • December 2014—German broadcaster ARD airs a documentary alleging widespread, state-sponsored doping in Russian athletics, prompting investigations into the matter.
  • November 4, 2015—Former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack is accused of taking bribes in exchange for covering up a number of Russian athletes’ positive drug tests.
  • November 9, 2015—The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) independent commission publishes a report alleging widespread bribery, corruption, and state-sponsored doping in Russian track and field.
  • July 18, 2016—Richard McLaren publishes his first WADA–commissioned report on doping in Russian athletics, focusing particularly on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, claiming that Russia’s Ministry of Sport and the Federal Security Service (FSB) had engaged in a cover-up to hide doping.
  • December 9, 2016—Second McLaren report provides strong evidence of expansive state-supported doping orchestrations.
  • December 5, 2017—The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announces that Russia is banned from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics but agrees to allow athletes from the country with no known doping history to compete neutrally.
  • February 28, 2018—The IOC announces that Russia’s Olympic membership has been reinstated following the end of the Winter Olympics.

Status

On February 1, 2018, following appeals, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that it was lifting the lifetime bans formerly placed on twenty-eight Russian athletes, a decision met with criticism from numerous Olympic officials. The CAS argued that the evidence against the athletes in question was insufficient to prove doping. Two Russian athletes were allowed to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea after being disqualified. This came after testing irregularities indicated that they had been using performance-enhancing substances. Not long after the closing ceremony later that month, the IOC announced that Russia’s Olympic committee had been formally reinstated, enabling Russian athletes to again participate in future Olympic Games.

In-Depth Overview

The Russian sports doping scandal began in earnest with a December 2014 report from German broadcaster ARD alleging the existence of a secret doping program in Russian athletics. The report alleged this effort being systematically covered up and backed by the state as well as possibly international officials. Within days, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced it would organize an independent commission to investigate the allegations in the report. By early November 2015, Lamine Diack, who had stepped down as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), had come under fire in the report as having been neglectful in its anti-doping efforts. Diack was detained and investigated by French prosecutors on suspicion that he had taken bribes to cover up positive doping tests. The WADA commission’s initial report, issued days later, confirmed, mainly through a consideration of the sport of track and field, the allegations made in the ARD documentary and suggested that there was significant evidence to indicate a state-sponsored doping program in Russian athletics. The IAAF temporarily suspended Russia’s membership, thereby prohibiting the country from all further international competitions, as the committee determined how to proceed.

In May 2016, Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Russia’s anti-doping laboratory who had defected to the United States after losing his job, gave an interview with the New York Times. Rodchenkov detailed a state-run doping system that he participated in, including developing a special blend of banned substances that was given to many Russian athletes at the 2014 Sochi Olympics before their samples of urine were covertly substituted with clean ones. WADA subsequently commissioned an independent investigation into the issue, to be led by Canadian attorney Richard McLaren. The first part of McLaren’s report, released in July 2016, focused on confirming that systematic doping was orchestrated at Sochi. It also sought to provide sufficient evidence to indicate reasonable belief that widespread doping in Russian competitive sports had been occurring for years, and had been covered up and supported by Russian officials. The findings did indeed suggest interference by the country’s Ministry of Sport and Federal Security Service (FSB). Regardless, the controversial decision was made not to completely ban Russia from competing in that year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; prospective competitors did have to meet especially strict criteria to qualify. A second part of the McLaren report was published in December, providing what he described as incontrovertible proof of state-sponsored doping in the Olympics as well as other competitive sporting events across a range of sports. Though top Russian officials continued to deny the findings, the report implicated more than one thousand athletes.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) set up a disciplinary commission known as the Oswald Commission, headed by IOC member Denis Oswald, to investigate the situation and issue penalties. Following the reanalysis of urine samples, the Oswald Commission began handing out sanctions in November 2017, and Russia was stripped of several of the medals awarded to its athletes during the Sochi Olympics. In December 2017, it was also announced that Russia would be banned from competing as a nation in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, and Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s minister of sport, was banned from the Olympics for life. However, to avoid punishing the athletes themselves for the actions of other athletes and officials, it was agreed that athletes without any known history of doping would still be allowed to compete as Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR), but that any medals won would not count toward Russia’s totals and the athletes would not be allowed to display the Russian flag.

In 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) officially prohibited Russian athletes from competing in international events, including the Olympics, for a period of four years. In 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport shaved two years off the ban, and allowed Russian athletes to compete in such events provided they did so under a neutral flag and not that of Russia.

In March 2023, the World Athletic Council formally lifted the doping ban against Russia that had officially been in place since 2017. Russian athletes, nonetheless, remained barred from international competition. This was due to sanctions that continued to be enacted against Russia stemming from its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In addition, Russia was not able to serve as the host for any international or European-wide sporting events.

Key Figures

Lamine Diack: Former IAAF president accused of corruption.

Richard McLaren: Canadian attorney hired by WADA to independently investigate allegations of Russian doping.

Denis Oswald: Swiss sports official in charge of the IOC’s disciplinary commission regarding the Russian doping scandal.

Grigory Rodchenkov: Former head of Russia’s anti-doping laboratory.

Bibliography

Carpenter, Les. (2022, November 29). With doping ban set to end, Russia finds itself even more of an outcast. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/11/29/russia-doping-ban-wada/.

Ingle, S. (2017, December 5). Russia banned from Winter Olympics over state-sponsored doping. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/dec/05/russian-olympic-committee-banned-winter-games-doping

“Majority” of Russian athletes doping, alleges German documentary. (2014, December 5). CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2014/12/05/sport/russia-doping-allegations/index.html

Masters, J., & McKirdy, E. (2018, February 1). Olympic doping ban overturned for 28 Russian athletes. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/01/europe/russia-doping-ban-lifted-on-28-athletes-intl/index.html

Poole, Harry. (2023, March 23). Russia: Doping suspension lifted but ban on nation's athletes remains because of Ukraine war. BBC Sport.https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/65055933.

Ruiz, R. R. (2016, December 9). Report shows vast reach of Russian doping: 1,000 athletes, 30 sports. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/sports/russia-doping-mclaren-report.html

Ruiz, R. R., & Schwirtz, M. (2016, May 12). Russian insider says state-run doping fueled Olympic gold. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/sports/russia-doping-sochi-olympics-2014.html