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McLaren Report: Main Results
More than a thousand athletes representing 30 sports are involved in the Russian state doping system. The names of the athletes involved in the fraud have not been published.
- Among the accused are two champions of Sochi 2014, who won four gold medals, and 12 more medalists.
- The samples of six Sochi Paralympic medalists, who won 21 medals, were changed, and the analysis of two hockey players showed the presence of male DNA.
- To falsify urine samples, Russian officials used salt and Nescafe instant coffee granules.
- Vitaly Mutko “led the process of manipulating doping samples,” and Yuri Nagornykh helped him. However, there is no direct evidence of Mutko’s involvement in the doping program.
at 16:10
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Richard McLaren: “I can’t say that only Russia is deceiving WADA”
The head of the independent commission of WADA, Richard McLaren, did not deny that in other countries there may also be a system of concealing positive doping tests of athletes.
Gleb Chernyavsky Gleb Chernyavsky at 16:08
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Alexander Tikhonov: “Russia has not taken any measures to combat doping for 20 years”
Four-time Olympic champion, member of the board of the RBU Alexander Tikhonov said on the Match TV channel that Russian sports officials themselves are to blame for the current situation with doping.
Gleb Chernyavsky Gleb Chernyavsky at 16:07
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Artem Patsev: “These statements are worthless if the samples were opened without athletes”
Sports lawyer Artem Patsev said on the Match TV channel that the second part of McLaren’s report suggests believing in the least likely scenario with doping tests at the Sochi Olympics.
Gleb Chernyavsky Gleb Chernyavsky at 16:07
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McLaren is not surprised that Mutko was not held accountable for the doping scandal.
The head of the independent commission of WADA, Richard McLaren, noted that at the moment there is no evidence of the guilt of former Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko in doping fraud involving the substitution of athletes' samples.
Alexander Muizhnek Alexander Muizhnek at 15:34
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Richard McLaren's press conference is over.
Alexander Muizhnek Alexander Muizhnek at 15:27
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McLaren previously spoke of the “unprecedented scale of fraud” at the 2012 Olympics, but now defends the London Games: “I don’t think there was a lack of proper vetting at the 2012 Olympics. The ability to test certain substances has been improved, and this has been demonstrated by repeated doping tests.”
Gleb Chernyavsky Gleb Chernyavsky at 15:27
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McLaren does not believe that he is in danger after the publication of the second part of the report.
“I have received angry letters, but I do not believe that I am in danger. Of course, when you do this kind of work, you understand what you are getting into. My reputation should not suffer, I laid out all the evidence in the report, you can look and say whether I’m right or wrong,” R-Sport quotes McLaren.
at 15:26
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How the samples were hidden in Sochi. McLaren version
1. Before the competition, the athlete took a clean sample that contained no traces of doping.
2. Russian authorities sent samples to freezers.
3. The athlete took doping.
4. At competitions, the athlete passed a doping test, as required.
5. Samples submitted during the Games were stolen with the help of FSB officers through a “mouse hole in the wall.”
6. The samples in the containers were replaced with clean ones.
7. Already clean samples were sent to the laboratory for analysis
Photo: ichef.bbci.co.uk
Alexander Muizhnek Alexander Muizhnek at 15:23
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Instead of the last question at the press conference, McClaren is called upon to give fans hope that the sport can be trusted. “A huge number of people were deceived - competition participants and fans. But I don’t think what’s happening here is happening all over the world.”
Pavel Tikhonov Pavel Tikhonov at 15:18
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McLaren accused Mutko of doping fraud
According to McLaren, former Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko “led the process of manipulating doping samples,” R-Sport reports. And his deputy, Yuri Nagornykh, helped him.
Alexander Muizhnek Alexander Muizhnek at 15:14
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“The full findings of the report are unprecedented and surprising. They strike at the heart and violate the integrity and ethics of the sport.
We fully agree with Professor McLaren that the best course of action is to work together to fix Russia's compromised anti-doping system."
Pavel Tikhonov Pavel Tikhonov at 15:13
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Another one of McLaren’s main points is given by the Air Force. McLaren claims that he has emails to the Russian Ministry of Sports asking questions about what to do with positive doping tests.
Alexander Muizhnek Alexander Muizhnek at 15:11
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McLaren is not going to announce the names of more than a thousand Russian athletes caught for doping. “This is a matter for the sports federations who received information about this.”
(World Anti-Doping Agency) Richard McLaren on the investigation of doping in Russian sports.
Based on the results of the investigation, the following conclusions were made:
1. The Moscow anti-doping laboratory used a win-win method to avoid disqualification for doping, despite the fact that the samples were collected by international doping officers.
2. The Russian Ministry of Sports supervised the manipulation of test results with the active participation and assistance of the FSB, the Federal Center for Training of Sports Reserves and laboratories in Moscow and Sochi.
3. The anti-doping laboratory in Sochi used a special methodology for substituting urine samples, which allowed doped Russian athletes to participate in the Games. The method consisted of destroying “dirty” urine samples and replacing them with “clean” ones. The substitution was carried out at night through a special hole in the wall of the laboratory in Sochi in order to hide it from foreign observers present in the laboratory. The process of sample substitution was supervised by an FSB officer disguised as a plumber.
Based on this report, WADA called for Russia to be suspended from participation in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The agency also called on international sports federations and organizations to ban Russian athletes from participating in competitions until there is a “change in doping culture.”
$1.8 million indictment
The International Olympic Committee did not accept the decision recommended by WADA. The question of the participation or non-participation of Russian athletes was transferred to the international federations, which made decisions based on information transmitted by the “McLaren Commission”.
It is worth noting that the names of the accused athletes were not publicly announced, nor was significant evidence of the accusations provided.
Richard McLaren stated that it would take time to complete the investigation.
As a result, the most affected party from the publication of the first part of the “McLaren report” were the Russian Paralympians, who, by decision of the International Paralympic Committee, were completely excluded from participation in the 2016 Paralympics.
Most experts agreed that the second part of the report, the publication of which was first scheduled for November and then postponed to December 2016, would be incriminating.
The previous accusations were too loud, too much money was spent. During its work, Richard McLaren's commission spent $1.8 million of funds allocated by WADA: with such a truly Russian scale, there was no need to wait for Russian sports to be justified.
At a press conference in London, Mr. McLaren did not disappoint. It was carried out in the best traditions of trials of “enemies of the people.”
“More than 1,000 Russian athletes are involved in manipulation”
Along with the start of the press conference at 14:15 Moscow time, the full, almost 150-page version of the report was published on the Internet. At the same time, neither in the report itself nor at the press conference were the names of the athletes who, according to McLaren, obtained medals by dishonest means. Their data in the report is digitally encrypted.
“The second part of the report confirms the cover-up of doping in Russia. The main conclusions from the first part remain unchanged, McLaren told reporters, who gathered about 150 people. — More than 1,000 Russian athletes were involved in manipulation of doping samples. The athletes did not act individually. This process, controlled by the state, was well tested in London 2012, at the 2013 Summer Universiade, the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow and, of course, Sochi 2014.”
According to McLaren, the state doping program has been operating in Russia since 2001.
According to the report, more than 1,000 Russian athletes in 30 sports received an illegal advantage from doping.
"The full scope will never be fully established"
“We have identified substitution of samples from 12 Russian Olympic medalists in Sochi, including 4 Olympic champions,” McLaren said. A little clarification is needed here: according to the report, we are talking about two Russians, each of whom won two gold medals.
The report also talks about the substitution of doping tests for 6 winners of the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi, who together won 21 medals.
According to McLaren, "The London Games have been tainted on an unprecedented level... The full extent will probably never be fully established."
It is alleged that 84 percent of substituted urine samples were recorded in Russian athletes representing summer sports. When changing samples, they even used Nescafe granules to change the color of urine.
“As a result of the tests, we checked whether the lids on the sample jars were opened. We determined that they could be opened,” McLaren said. — Salt was added to clean urine to ensure a certain density. Physiologically impossible levels of salt were found in samples from Russian athletes from Sochi.”
Among the more specific facts cited by McLaren, the following is mentioned: “Two samples of Russian female hockey players contained male DNA.”
“Russia responded to every step with subversive work”
The main idea that is conveyed in the report is that the use of doping in Russia was carried out at the state level. “The report includes conclusive evidence that is independent of verbal testimony. The scheme took place under leadership and under knowledge Vitaly Mutko, said McLaren. “This system included coaches who sold and supplied doping to athletes, doping officers who warned athletes in advance about unexpected tests, and officials of the Ministry of Sports, including the current Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.”
Mr. McLaren considered Russia’s actions to combat doping not just insufficient, but destructive: “For every step taken by WADA to correct the situation, Russia responded with subversive work.”
Concluding his speech, McLaren expressed bewilderment at why international sports federations are not working actively enough on the issue of combating doping. “We must unite to close the topic of doping in sports,” said the head of the commission.
Russia will lose first place at the 2014 Games
Now McLaren's report will be handed over to WADA, the IOC and international sports federations, which will have to decide the fate of both individual athletes and Russian sports as a whole.
When asked by journalists whether Russia could be admitted to the 2018 Winter Olympics, McLaren noted that it was not his decision to make, but he allowed for such a possibility if large-scale reforms were carried out.
In order to understand how convincing evidence Richard McLaren has collected, a careful analysis of the voluminous report is required.
But Denis Oswald, the head of the IOC commission, which is responsible for re-checking doping samples taken during the Olympic Games in Sochi, has already hastened to declare that after reviewing the results of the 2014 Games based on the “McLaren report”, Russia will lose first place in the team event.
“Everyone understood that a person has nothing”
The International Paralympic Committee, which suspended the Russians from the 2016 Paralympics, responded to McLaren’s report: “The conclusions of the report are unprecedented. They go straight to the heart of the ethics of sport. We fully agree with Professor McLaren that unification is the best way to fix Russia's compromised anti-doping system. The newly established IPC Task Force looks forward to working closely with our member Russian Paralympic Committee.”
President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation Elena Vyalbe, in turn, believes that Richard McLaren has not proven anything. “It seems to me that everyone understood that a person has nothing. Neither he nor anyone else. They are doing a great job of making money there... Allegedly they are conducting some other investigations. If all the samples are to be opened, we want to be nearby. Moreover, everyone, including the same Investigative Committee, is also conducting investigations. I know for my team, there’s nothing to find there,” R-Sport quotes Vyalbe as saying.
Zubkov, Voevoda, An, Weidle - who will be “demoted” and disgraced?
The main question on everyone's mind is: what's next?
It must be admitted that the “doping scandal” associated with Russia has too much political significance. And the stronger the pressure from the West, the stronger the opposition from Russia. Under these conditions, it is very difficult to expect that conclusions on the “McLaren Report” will be made on the basis of bare facts, and not unproven accusations.
WADA functionaries openly call for a ban on holding any international sporting competitions in Russia. Without a doubt, a new wave of similar initiatives will now follow.
Russia faces the threat of the removal of awards and long-term, possibly lifelong, disqualification of dozens of Russian athletes.
It is difficult to identify everyone who is at risk. Some approximate clarity can only be in the question of the two winners of Sochi 2014, who won two gold medals each.
A short track speed skating representative is under threat here Viktor An, three gold medal winning snowboarder Vic Wild(two gold medals), figure skaters Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov(two gold), and also bobsledders Alexander Zubkov and Alexey Voevoda. The names of Zubkov and Voevoda had previously unofficially appeared in leaks allegedly based on data from the “McLaren report.”
Winter will be long
At the same time, Richard McLaren himself once again emphasized: all specific names will be transferred to representatives of international federations. Only after they make an official decision will it become clear who exactly they are talking about.
Mr McLaren, who was unable to get Russia removed from the 2016 Olympics with the help of the first part of the report, is now aiming for more. Considering the mention of 1000 athletes and 30 sports, we can talk about the complete exclusion of Russia from participation in the world sports movement.
Perhaps this will be the largest sanction that has been imposed on Russia since the beginning of the political confrontation with the West.
Does Russia have arguments to defend itself today? It is very difficult to say anything definite. Yes, Russia managed to retain the right to participate in the 2016 Olympics, albeit with an incomplete team; the right to host the FIFA World Cup has not yet been taken away from us.
But the fact that Russia generally finds itself in the position of “the main evil of world sports” indicates that the actions of domestic sports officials are extremely ineffective.
Therefore, it is probably worth preparing to live through internal sports competitions. How Soviet athletes and fans lived for three decades after the October Revolution, when the Soviet Union was in sports isolation. “The winter will be long, we must prepare,” said one of the heroes of the classic Soviet film. And it seems that he was referring to Richard McLaren's report.
Canadian specialist Richard McLaren has denied reports that he has withdrawn his charges of creating a state doping system in Russia. The SID agency reported this on Tuesday, September 5, citing a statement issued by the office of the Canadian who headed the WADA independent commission on the Russian Federation.
"Professor McLaren stands by the findings of his research unequivocally and is surprised by recent reports suggesting otherwise," the document said. Richard McLaren's statement was made public in response to the words of the head of the Independent Public Anti-Doping Commission (PLAC), Vitaly Smirnov, who stated a day earlier: “I met with McLaren. As a result, McLaren said that he had withdrawn his charges of government interference.”
Smirnov tried to persuade McLaren
The Canadian specialist explained that at their last meeting in October 2016, Smirnov convinced him to abandon the formulation of “state participation” in the creation of the doping system in the Russian Federation. Vitaly Smirnov, notes McLaren, argued this by saying that in Russia the word “state” always refers to the highest political level, and the evidence in the report of the independent WADA commission concerns only the level of the Ministry of Sports. As a result, Richard McLaren adjusted the wording and in the second part of the report accuses Russia of “institutional systematic evasion of the doping control system.”
Context
"Professor McLaren explained this change when publishing his second report in December 2016 and emphasized that the facts and conclusions presented in the report remained unchanged," the Canadian specialist's office said in a press release.
At the moment, a special commission under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is studying the evidence provided in the reports of Richard McLaren. According to the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, it is planned to face doping charges at the Sochi Olympics by October.
See also:
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"Dirty" victory in Sochi?
15 Russian athletes who won medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi took doping during the competition. The former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, spoke about this in an interview with The New York Times. According to him, the Russian Federation has developed a state doping program, approved at the highest level, to win the overall medal standings of the Games.
Winter doping: was the victory in Sochi “dirty”?
Mechanism of deception
In total, dozens of Russian athletes ended up in the “doping program”. According to Rodchenkov, they took a “cocktail” of three anabolic steroids mixed with alcohol. Men - with Chivas whiskey, women - with Martini Vermouth. This way, the doping was absorbed into the blood faster, and the detection window was reduced. “Dirty” doping tests were secretly replaced with “clean” ones with the participation of Russian special services.
Winter doping: was the victory in Sochi “dirty”?
Names of "heroes": skier, ...
So far, The New York Times has named only three “heroes” of the new doping scandal, according to Rodchenkov. Among them, for example, is skier Alexander Legkov, who won gold in the 50 km race in Sochi.
Winter doping: was the victory in Sochi “dirty”?
...skeletonist, ....
Another winner of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, skeleton athlete Alexander Tretyakov, also, according to Rodchenkov, was among those who took doping during the competition.
Winter doping: was the victory in Sochi “dirty”?
...and two veteran bobsledders
The NYT article talks about "two veteran bobsledders winning two golds." The name of one of them, Alexander Zubkov, is mentioned directly. It is not difficult to establish the name of the second. This is probably Alexey Voevoda, Zubkov’s partner in bobsleigh “two” and “four”. Together they won the Games in Sochi in both disciplines (in the “fours” competition they were helped by two more teammates).
Winter doping: was the victory in Sochi “dirty”?
Hockey players - no medals, but doped?
Not all athletes from the “doping program” managed to bring Russia medals at the Games in Sochi. Thus, the Russian women's hockey team, which allegedly also hosted Rodchenkov's “cocktail,” took only sixth place.
Winter doping: was the victory in Sochi “dirty”?
And again the skiers
Games winner Alexander Legkov was not the only Russian skier who took doping during the competition in Sochi in 2014. Rodchenkov claims that 14 members of the Russian ski team resorted to using illegal drugs. True, the names of the remaining “dirty” skiers have not yet been made public.
Independent expert of the World Anti-Doping Agency ( WADA ), law professor at the Canadian University of Western Ontario, Richard McLaren, on Friday presented the second part of his report on the state doping system in Russia. The first part of the report was made public in the summer, on the eve of the Rio Olympics, and almost led to the exclusion of the Russian team from participation in the competition. The IOC agreed to allow the team to compete in Brazil without applying the principle of collective responsibility, but some athletes were never allowed to compete. The new report says that all the conclusions made in the first part have been confirmed, and this will certainly lead to dire consequences for Russian sports.
The second part of McLaren's report not only repeats the main accusations contained in the previous one, but also points to new details. The investigation, led by a Canadian lawyer, concluded that the scope of the Russian doping system is much wider than expected. The number of athletes suspected of being involved in the system has almost doubled. While in the summer McLaren argued that about 600 athletes were involved in doping, the new version finds over a thousand athletes representing about 30 summer and winter sports who could benefit from the doping system.
The report covers the period from 2011 to 2015. The authors of the report believe that the sample substitution system began to be developed after the unsuccessful performance of the Russians at the Olympics in Vancouver. During this time, it was used at the Olympic Games in London (2012), at the Universiade (2012), at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow (2013) and at the Winter Olympics in Sochi (2014).
The main persons involved in the investigation are the same. The sample concealment system was allegedly created under the supervision of Russian officials with the support of the FSB. The key role, according to the authors of the report, in this scheme is occupied by the Russian Ministry of Sports and the associated Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), the Sports Training Center and the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory.
The most important element of this system was the director of the Moscow laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, who became McLaren's informant after he moved to the United States. At the same time, it is not entirely clear what place in the system occupied the then Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko, who was appointed to the post of Deputy Prime Minister in October of this year. According to McLaren, Mutko could have known about the doping system, but the process was led by his deputy Yuri Nagornykh, who had already been dismissed. WADA has no evidence of Mutko’s direct involvement in the organization and management of the system.
A special place in the report is occupied by the Sochi Olympics, where Russia took first place. McLaren continues to insist on the practice of replacing “dirty” samples with “clean” ones during competitions. According to him, the Ministry of Sports, together with Rodchenkov, developed a methodology that would be a perfect and safe mechanism that would guarantee the impossibility of being convicted of doping, and specialists in laboratories even achieved external similarity between “clean” and “dirty” samples.
The investigation showed that 12 medalists had urine samples taken at the Sochi Olympics. Scratches and damage were found on the sample containers, indicating manipulation of the contents of these containers. In the samples of some athletes, the salt level exceeded the “physiologically acceptable” level. Two women from the hockey team had male DNA in their samples. Manipulations with samples of six Paralympic medalists in Sochi were also revealed. Water or Nescafe instant coffee was used to make the fake samples look like the real thing, the report said.
All conclusions made in the report are based on examinations and laboratory studies. In total, it talks about 500 false sample reports submitted by the Moscow laboratory to WADA. The names of the athletes are not indicated in the published report, but they are in the full versions of the reports sent to sports federations. To confirm the statements made, WADA launched a website with a database of documents used in the investigation.
WADA chief Craig Reedy called the new report "disturbing" evidence demonstrating the "scale of subversion." Russian officials in personal comments mainly spoke about the lack of evidence and the purity of Russian athletes, but there is no official position on the presented report yet. The Ministry of Sports promised to carefully study the information provided “in order to form a constructive position.” At the same time, the ministry claims that there were no programs supporting doping in Russia.
Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov, in turn, said that the term “state conspiracy” used by McLaren is erroneous. “There was no trace of any conspiracy and there could not be any. Russian law enforcement agencies are looking into individual violations and even, in my opinion, crimes committed, in particular, by Mr. Rodchenkov and his probable associates,” Kolobkov said.
The Kremlin promised to carefully read McLaren’s report, noting that “any hypothetical reasoning is inappropriate here.” The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, proposed a lifelong ban from participation in the Olympics for all those involved in the doping system. In the near future, the IOC will recheck the urine samples of all 254 Russian athletes who participated in the Sochi Olympics.