Four Russian gold medalists at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics were drug cheats, doping whistleblower Vitaly Stepanov alleged in an interview for an upcoming edition of CBS television’s 60 Minutes.
In an interview to air in full today, Stepanov, a former official with the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), cited Grigor Rodchenkov, former head of Russia’s now-discredited drug testing lab, as telling him that FSB state security service officers “tried to control every single step of the anti-doping process in Sochi.”
Hosts Russia won 13 gold medals at the Sochi Games.
Photo: AP
A brief preview of the interview released by CBS revealed no names of suspected dope cheats.
However, the story could signal a widening of the doping scandal that has engulfed Russian athletics, with the country’s track and field stars facing a ban from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.
Stepanov and his wife, banned athlete Yuliya Stepanova, appeared in a German television documentary claiming systematic doping of Russian athletics in 2014 — allegations later supported by an investigation by a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission, which found evidence of “state-sponsored” doping and widespread corruption.
Stepanov told 60 Minutes that Rodchenkov told him the doping activities he and his wife documented were the tip of an iceberg.
“He told me what I and Yuliya did we could only see this much,” he said, holding his hands apart.
“What was happening with cover-ups, it’s like this,” he added, spreading his hands wide.
The International Association of Athletics Federations suspended Russia in November last year, with the federation council to decide next month whether the country’s athletes can compete in Rio.
In the 60 Minutes program, US Anti-Doping Agency head Travis Tygart said he does not believe Russian athletics has done enough to warrant reinstatement and his agency is “not in favor” of Russian athletes competing in Rio.
“They can’t come at the expense of clean athletes’ rights,” he told 60 Minutes.
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