Following the publication of the completed WADA Independent Person (IP) Report on 9 December 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that 28 Russian athletes* who participated in the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 are now subject to a disciplinary procedure.
The IOC is initiating disciplinary cases against all 28 athletes for whom there is evidence of manipulation of one or more of their urine samples that were collected at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, as detailed in the IP report earlier in December.
Prof. McLaren had investigated 95 samples of Russian athletes provided to him by the IOC. They led to the 28 athletes with evidence of sample manipulation. They have now been repatriated back to the Lausanne Anti-Doping Laboratory, and re-analysis has already begun on these samples looking for any Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs).
At this point in time, these 28 new cases are not AAFs, like a positive doping test. However, the manipulation of the samples themselves could lead to an Anti-Doping Rule Violation and sanctions.
“This is the immediate follow-up to Professor McLaren’s Report. The IOC will go beyond the findings of the IP Report by re-analysing all the samples of all the Russian athletes who participated in the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 as well as all those who participated in the Olympic Games London 2012,” IOC President Thomas Bach said.
As of now, 27 Russian athletes have already been sanctioned by the IOC as a result of the IOC’s own re-analysis programme for the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 and London 2012, which began prior to the Olympic Games Rio 2016, and is still ongoing (for London). The IOC will also reanalyze all samples from Russian athletes at the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010.
The protection of clean athletes and the fight against doping are top priorities for the IOC, as outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement.
* Please note that for legal reasons the IOC cannot currently give more detailed information on the cases. This will follow in due course.
This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.