McLaren Report – Russia Heavily Involved in State Sponsored Doping

An independent report by law professor Richard McLaren (Western University) has been released by the World Anti-Doping Agency, and its results are damning.

Included in the report (which can be downloaded in its entirety here) was a full rundown of how state-sponsored doping happened both in Russia’s Moscow lab and their Sochi lab, the latter of which was used for testing in the 2014 Olympics.

During the hour-long press conference, McLaren reiterated that the evidence given was both verifiable and could be cross-corroborated. “I’m unwaveringly confident in our report”, McLaren said.

The information within the 100+ page report were those facts that were proven “beyond a reasonable doubt”, and held to standards that would hold up to any scientific testing. Given the time given for the report (57 days), not all sports were identified. That said, the report shows systematic doping by both summer and winter Olympic teams that was overseen by the Russian government, including the Russian Ministry of Sport, the Russian National Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) released a statement a short time after the release of the report: ““The findings of the report show a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games. Therefore, the IOC will not hesitate to take the toughest sanctions available against any individual or organisation implicated,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. In the immediate short term, the IOC Executive Board (EB) will convene in a telephone conference tomorrow to take its first decisions, which may include provisional measures and sanctions with regard to the Olympic Games Rio 2016.”

During the 2014 games, Alexander Tretiakov finished with a gold medal in men’s skeleton, while Elena Nikitina finished in the bronze medal position. In bobsled, Alexander Zubkov took gold in both two and four-man events. If the IOC decides to reallocate the medals from the Sochi games (as it is of the opinion of this author that they should), these would be the new results: