Doping in Russia

Many athletes from Russia have used special drugs to improve their performance in sports, which is called doping. This is not fair to other athletes, and it can be dangerous to health. Because of this, many Olympic medals won by Russian athletes have been taken away, with 51 medals stripped—more than any other country.

The World Anti-Doping Agency found that doping in Russia was supported by the government itself. They provided certain drugs, like steroids, to help athletes perform better. Because of these serious rule breaks, Russia was not allowed to compete in big sports events like the Olympic Games for a time.

In 2019, the ban was set for four years, but later reduced to two years after Russia argued against it. During this time, Russian athletes could still compete, but they had to do so under a neutral flag, not representing Russia directly. This showed how important it is to keep sports fair and safe for everyone.

Soviet era

See also: Doping at the Olympic Games § 1980 Moscow

During the Soviet era, some people in charge tried to help their athletes use special substances to perform better. A report from 1989 said that many winners at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow likely used such substances. Later documents showed that the Soviet Union had plans to help athletes use these substances for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, even before they decided not to participate.

Timeline of the doping

Doping issues from 2008 to 2009

In 2008, seven Russian track and field athletes were suspended ahead of the Summer Olympics in Beijing for manipulating their urine samples.

Multiple Russian biathletes were involved in doping offences in run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. The president of the International Biathlon Union said, "We are facing systematic doping on a large scale in one of the strongest teams of the world."

Reviewing 7,289 blood samples from 2,737 competitors from 2001 to 2009, a report found that the number of suspicious samples from "Country A" notably exceeded other countries. One of the authors said that Country A was Russia.

In October 2009, International Association of Athletics Federations general secretary Pierre Weiss wrote to Valentin Balakhnichev that blood samples from Russian athletes "recorded some of the highest values ever seen since the IAAF started testing" and that tests from the 2009 World Championships "strongly suggest a systematic abuse of blood doping or EPO-related products".

2010–2014: allegations of state-sponsored doping and 2014 ARD documentary

In 2010, an employee at the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), began sending information to the World Anti-Doping Agency alleging that RUSADA was enabling systematic doping in athletics. In December 2012, an athlete sent an email to WADA containing details of an alleged state-run doping program in Russia. In April 2013, having failed a doping test for the second time, the athlete was banned by the Russian Athletics Federation for ten years. In December 2014, a German broadcaster aired a documentary, which uncovered alleged Russian state involvement in systematic doping.

2015

See also: Russia at the 2012 Summer Olympics § Russian doping scandal

In January 2015, an official resigned as treasurer of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

In response to the documentary, WADA commissioned an investigation, the report of which was published on 9 November 2015. The 335-page document reported widespread doping and large-scale cover-ups by the Russian authorities. It recommended that the athletics federation be declared non-compliant.

A day later, WADA suspended the Moscow Anti-doping Center. On 13 November, the athletics council voted to prohibit Russia from world track and field events with immediate effect. Russia has been also prohibited from hosting major events, and the federation must entrust doping cases to an international court. The federation accepted the indefinite suspension and did not request a hearing.

In November, France began a criminal investigation into a former athletics president, alleging that he accepted a large sum of money from the federation to cover up positive doping results of at least six Russian athletes.

2016

January to May 2016

In January 2016, the IAAF gave lifetime bans to the former head of the Russian athletics federation and a top Russian coach.

In mid-January, WADA released the second report by its independent commission. Two former directors of RUSADA died unexpectedly in February 2016. In March, German broadcaster ARD aired a documentary alleging that competitors were alerted about testing plans and offered banned substances. On 19 May, WADA appointed an investigator to look into the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

On 15 March, the International Olympic Committee announced that they were re-analyzing stored urine samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics to detect banned substances that would have gone unnoticed at the time of competition.

Away from the Olympics, a Russian boxer and a tennis player failed drug tests in March and May respectively. A Russian-Finnish footballer failed a drugs test later in the year.

June 2016

An ARD documentary in June 2016 implicated a Russian sports minister in covering up doping by a football player. IAAF deputy general secretary was provisionally suspended over allegations that he took money to delay naming Russian athletes.

In June, WADA reported limitations in its testing due to unavailable competitor reports, missed tests, and insufficient information. WADA also reported intimidation of officers, significant delays, monitoring by security staff, delays in receiving competitor lists, and opening of sample packages by Russian customs. 90% of Russian competitors did not respond or refused when WADA requested to interview them.

On 17 June, the IAAF Council held a meeting to give the Russian Athletics Federation a further opportunity to satisfy conditions for membership. The council recommended against reinstating Russia. The IAAF voted unanimously to uphold its ban.

A week later, the International Weightlifting Federation decided to give a one-year ban to Russia, and on 3 August the IOC ratified the decision, and Russia's weightlifting team missed the 2016 Summer Olympics.

July 2016

See also: McLaren Report

On 18 July 2016, an attorney published a report covering significant state-sponsored doping in Russia. The report concluded that Russia's Ministry of Sport, the Centre of Sports Preparation, the Federal Security Service, and the WADA-accredited laboratory in Moscow had operated to protect doped Russian competitors using a “disappearing positive [test] methodology“ after the country's poor medal count during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

According to the report, the system operated from "at least late 2011 to August 2015". It was used on samples in many sports. In response, WADA announced that RUSADA should be regarded as non-compliant and recommended that Russian participants be banned from competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The IOC decided to decline accreditation requests by Russian sports ministry officials and any individuals implicated in the report, to begin re-analysis and a full inquiry into Russian competitors at the Sochi Olympics, and to ask sports federations to seek alternative hosts for major events that had been assigned to Russia.

On 21 July 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport turned down an appeal by the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian competitors. The following day, the International Paralympic Committee began suspension proceedings against the National Paralympic Committee of Russia. On 24 July, the IOC rejected WADA's recommendation to ban Russia from the Summer Olympics and announced that a decision would be made by each sport federation.

On 30 July, the IOC announced that a final decision on each competitor would be made by a newly established IOC panel.

August to September 2016

See also: Russia at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Russia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Originally Russia submitted a list of 389 participants for the Rio Olympics competition. On 7 August 2016, the IOC cleared 278 competitors, while 111 were removed because of the scandal.

Due to governmental interference, competitors were permitted to enter only as independent athletes.

Having sent samples for forensic analysis, the International Paralympic Committee found evidence that a method was in operation at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. On 7 August 2016, the IPC's Governing Board voted unanimously to ban the entire Russian team from the 2016 Summer Paralympics. On 23 August 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Russia's appeal. The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland rejected another appeal by Russia.

In an interview, an official said that Russia was threatening and that there were hacking attempts and bugging of houses.

October to December 2016

See also: McLaren Report

In October 2016, Russia's sports minister was promoted to deputy prime minister amid allegations.

On 3 November, Russia approved an anti-doping law targeting coaches.

On 15 November, introduced a new design for doping sample bottles.

On 7 December, an athlete became the chair of the supervisory board of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency.

On 9 December, published the second part of his report. The report claimed that from 2011 to 2015, more than 1,000 Russian competitors in various sports benefited from the cover-up.

2017

January to October 2017

In February 2017, an official held a press conference alongside a former Soviet competitor who said that East German successes due to state-sponsored doping are legitimate results of "good pharmacology" and should not be condemned. Later that month, WADA stated that evidence against many individuals named in the report might be insufficient.

An taskforce published an interim report in April. The report also noted the case of a whistleblower who had fled Russia after being threatened with imprisonment.

In September, WADA rejected Russia's claims and stated that Russia had chosen to appoint an official as head of the laboratory. The organisation also stated that Russia should take responsibility for a deliberate system of cheating.

Seventeen national anti-doping organisations criticised the IOC for not holding Russia accountable.

November to December 2017

See also: Oswald Commission

In November 2017, the IOC disciplinary commission imposed its first sanctions after a year-long Sochi investigation. As of 22 December, 43 Russian competitors had been sanctioned and 13 medals had been stripped.

On 10 November, WADA said that it had obtained an electronic file that contained "all testing data" from January 2012 to August 2015. The database arrived through a whistleblower.

On 11 November, it was revealed that an official had provided new evidence of Russian state-sponsored doping to the IOC.

On 16 November, WADA announced that Russia remained non-compliant with its Code. On 26 November, decided to maintain Russia's ban from international track and field competitions, saying the country had not done enough to tackle doping.

In an interview, an official reported that a minister had asked him to incriminate a competitor, but he did not comply.

Official sanctions

On 5 December 2017, the IOC announced that the Russian Olympic Committee had been suspended with immediate effect from the 2018 Winter Olympics, but their concession was to allow those Russians with no previous drug violations and a consistent history of drug testing to compete under the Olympic Flag as an "Olympic Athlete from Russia" (OAR). Under the terms of the IOC's edict, no Russian government officials were permitted to attend the Games, and neither the Russian flag nor the Russian national anthem would be featured; the Olympic Flag and Olympic Anthem were to be used instead. On 20 December 2017, the IOC proposed an alternative logo for the OAR competitors' uniforms (shown on right). IOC President said that "after following due process [the IOC] has issued proportional sanctions for this systematic manipulation while protecting the clean competitors."

As of January 2018, the IOC had identified 43 Russian competitors from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi that it intended to ban from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics and all other future Olympic Games as part of the Oswald Commission. All but one of those competitors appealed against their bans to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The court overturned the sanctions on 28 of the appellants, resulting in their Sochi medals and results being reinstated, but the court ruled that there was sufficient evidence against eleven of the competitors to uphold their Sochi sanctions. The IOC issued a statement saying "the result of the CAS decision does not mean that athletes from the group of 28 will be invited to the Games. Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation" and that "this [case] may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping". The IOC found it imperative to point out that the CAS Secretary General "insisted that the CAS decision does not mean that these 28 competitors are innocent" and that they would consider an appeal against the court's decision. The court also downgraded the punishment by deciding that the 39 competitors should only be banned from the 2018 Games, not all future Olympic Games. The remaining three Russian competitors did not appeal their decisions until March 2020 and in September 2020, two of them were cleared of doping whilst the remaining one was found guilty, however all three had their life bans overturned. After the partially successful appeal, 47 Russian competitors and coaches launched a further appeal to the CAS, in a final attempt to secure an invitation to the Games. This appeal was dismissed on 9 February 2018, the day of the opening ceremony, a decision that was welcomed by the IOC.

An original pool of 500 Russians was put forward for consideration for the 2018 Games and 111 of them were immediately eliminated from the pool; this included the 43 competitors who had been sanctioned by the Oswald Commission. The remaining 389 were required to meet a number of pre-games conditions, such as a further round of tests and re-analysis of stored samples, and they would only be considered for invitation to the Games providing these requirements were met. The final number of neutral Russian competitors that were invited to compete was 169. However, a competitor chose not to compete, bringing the eventual total to 168.

Reaction in Russia

In the past, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and other government officials had stated that it would be a humiliation for Russia if its competitors were not allowed to compete at the Olympics under the Russian flag. However, despite rumours to the contrary, his spokesman later revealed that no boycott had been discussed leading up to the IOC's announcement. After the IOC decision was made public, the Head of Chechnya, announced that no Chechen competitors would be allowed to compete under a neutral flag.

On 6 December 2017, Putin confirmed that the Russian government would not prevent any of its competitors from participating at the 2018 Games as individuals, despite there being calls from other leading Russian politicians for a boycott. A leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, put forward a proposal to send fans to the Games with a Soviet Victory Banner. The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, commented that the United States "fears honest competition", affirming Vladimir Putin's position that the United States used its influence within the IOC to "orchestrate the doping scandal".

According to a newspaper, 86% of the Russian population opposed participation in the Winter Olympics under a neutral flag.

Many Russians believed that the IOC was retaliating against Russia for their discriminatory anti-gay law which provoked considerable controversy with the IOC during the 2014 Winter Olympics when it was hosted in Sochi, Russia.

2018

January to February 2018

In January 2018, it was reported that all leading Russian competitors avoided meeting doping officers and passing anti-doping tests in a track and field competition in Irkutsk.

During the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February, two Russian competitors from the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) delegation failed doping tests and were disqualified: a curler who won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event; and a bobsleigh pilot who finished twelfth in the two-woman event. The IOC expressed their disappointment at the positive doping tests and stated that the OAR team would consequently not be allowed to parade under the Russian flag at the closing ceremony.

Despite the two disqualifications, the IOC announced on 28 February that it had chosen to reinstate Russia's Olympic membership, just days after the end of the Winter Games, as no more cases of doping had been found in the delegation. The surprise decision to lift the suspension provoked anger among the international sporting community. The IOC had planned all along to reinstate Russia after the Games provided there were no more failed tests. Their statement read "The suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee is automatically lifted with immediate effect."

May to August 2018

In the buildup to the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosted by Russia, a lab director and whistleblower said that he recognised one of Russia's players as a doper in one of his own doping programmes. FIFA had opened an inquiry into Russian doping in football after the report was published with 33 Russian footballers named in it, but said in May that they had found 'insufficient evidence' of doping but said that some cases with players unrelated to the World Cup were ongoing. The tournament eventually concluded with no players failing a drugs test. A few months after the tournament had concluded in September, the father of a Russian player said that his son had been taking growth hormone during the tournament. He was later cleared of doping by anti-doping authorities.

On 20 July, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) released details of 120 doping cases with some 85 of the cases involving Olympic and World Championships medallists and almost half (47.5%) involving Russians. On 27 July, 10 days before the start of the 2018 European Athletics Championships, the IAAF announced that despite making improvements in key areas, Russia would still remain suspended from international athletics competitions. 29 Russian athletes still competed in the championships as Authorised Neutral Athletes, and Russia eventually topped the medal table of the inaugural European Championships.

September 2018

The World-Anti Doping Agency voted on 20 September whether or not to re-instate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency after they were suspended in 2015. WADA had insisted that Russia meet two criteria before RUSADA could be re-admitted; accept the findings of the McLaren Report and grant access to Moscow's anti-doping laboratory. WADA voted unanimously to re-instate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency at their congress in the Seychelles. The decision received so much criticism that the head of WADA had to publicly defend the decision as he came under mounting criticism.

With RUSADA now re-instated, the Russian Athletics Federation launched a legal challenge to the IAAF to overturn their ban from athletics competitions from which they were still suspended. The IAAF, however, refused the request, which was later withdrawn by the Russian athletics federation. By 26 September, 77 Russians were serving doping bans in the sport of athletics including 72 athletes and five coaches and athlete support personnel.

November to December 2018

It was announced in November that the International Olympic Committee would further re-analyse stored samples from the 2012 Olympics, testing for all banned substances. This came after 48 adverse analytical findings were found in previous re-analysis of samples with 22 of them being Russian

On 14 December, a newspaper reported from Moscow that officials at the Russian Ministry of Sport were still reluctant to cooperate fully with WADA over turning over the testing data from its anti-doping laboratory. WADA subsequently released a statement that said their Expert Team had flown to extract the data. Later, it emerged that WADA was unsuccessful in retrieving the data because their equipment had allegedly not been properly certified.

The reinstatement of RUSADA prompted allegations of bullying and a call for reform within the World Anti-Doping Agency, however the IAAF decided to uphold Russia's suspension from athletics into 2019 with 63 Russians cleared to compete as neutral athletes for the year. A team of five WADA experts traveled to Moscow on 17 December expected to be given full access to the laboratory, but on arrival, they were refused full access which put RUSADA on the brink of being suspended once more with their president appealing personally to Putin for a resolution.

2019

January 2019

WADA had set Russia a strict deadline to hand over data from their Moscow laboratory by 31 December, a deadline which they evidently missed. WADA eventually gained full access to the Moscow laboratory on 10 January, 10 days after the initial deadline. The WADA president described it as a "major breakthrough for clean sport" and said that they were now starting their second phase of authentication and review of the data that had been collected to make sure that it had not been compromised and to build strong cases against Russian competitors that might have doped. WADA eventually managed to retrieve 2262 samples from the Moscow lab. Despite missing the deadline, RUSADA was still deemed compliant and was not punished.

February to March 2019

It was announced on 8 February that the International Paralympic Committee would now re-instate Russia by 15 March after they were suspended in July 2016.

On 19 March, France issued arrest warrants for two former Russian athletics officials as part of an investigation into a doping cover-up.

June to July 2019

Russia's 2008 Olympic high jump champion stepped down from his position as the vice-president of the Russian Athletics Federation in June after it was reported that he was under investigation for a possible doping violation following a re-analysis of his sample from 2013.

In July Reuters reported that two Olympic Russian boxers competed in 2018 while serving doping bans applied by RUSADA.

The first cases of possible Anti-Doping violations against Russian competitors' samples taken from the Moscow Laboratory were handed over to the individual sporting federations in July. The first sporting federation to suspend competitors from the data received was the International Weightlifting Federation who suspended 12 Russian weightlifters including Olympic, World and European medalists.

September to November 2019

On 21 September, it was widely reported that some of the data retrieved from the Moscow laboratory may have been manipulated and tampered with before it was retrieved by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

On 21 November, a number of Russian athletics officials were suspended for obstructing and failing to co-operate with an investigation into the whereabouts of a high-jumper. President of the Russian Athletics Federation was suspended along with 6 others associated with RusAF, including the athlete and his coach.

Doping ban

WADA then recommended that Russia be declared non-compliant once more and banned from hosting sporting events for four years. On 9 December, WADA banned Russia from major international sporting events for four years, on charges of tampering with doping-related reports. Russia will be barred from hosting, participating in, or establishing bids for international sporting events during this period. As before, WADA will allow cleared Russian competitors to compete neutrally, but not under the Russian flag. This will not affect Russia's co-hosting of UEFA Euro 2020, as WADA does not recognize UEFA as a "major event organization" covered by the ban. In regard to this sanction, WADA president said that "For too long, Russian doping has detracted from clean sport". He also added that "Russia was afforded every opportunity to get its house in order and rejoin the global anti-doping community for the good of its competitors and of the integrity of sport, but it chose instead to continue in its stance of deception and denial". Russia appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

2020

January to April 2020

In January 2020, WADA suspended the Moscow laboratory from carrying out its only remaining accreditation, analysis of blood samples.

In March, World Athletics announced that no more than 10 Russian track and field athletes would be allowed to compete as neutrals at the summer's Olympics. It also fined the Russian Athletics Federation $10 million due to the obstruction and forgery of documents relating to the doping case of a high-jumper and stated that all Russian neutrals would be banned if half of the fine was not paid by 1 July. The 2020 Summer Olympics were later delayed until 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

On 30 April, WADA announced that they had completed their 'painstaking' investigation of the 298 Russian competitors whose data they had received from the Moscow laboratory in January 2019.

July to December 2020

The Russian athletics federation failed to pay half of its $10 million World Athletics fine by 1 July. RusAF avoided expulsion from World Athletics after the Russian Sports Minister made an 'unconditional' guarantee to pay the fine by a new deadline of 15 August. Russia paid the fine of $5 million and $1.31 million in costs three days before the set deadline and avoided expulsion by doing so.

In a case that was described as 'almost identical' to that of a high-jumper, a Russian figure skater was handed a 10-year ban from the sport by RUSADA for submitting a forged medical document in relation to her three missed doping tests and the presence of a prohibited substance in her body.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, on review of Russia's appeal of its case from WADA, ruled on 17 December to reduce the penalty that WADA had placed. Instead of banning Russia from sporting events, the ruling allowed Russia to participate at the Olympics and other international events, but for a period of two years, athletes and teams who were to represent Russia are not allowed to use the Russian name, flag, or anthem, and are instead required to present themselves as "Neutral Athlete" or "Neutral Team". The ruling does allow for their uniforms to display "Russia" on the uniform but only up to equal predominance as the "Neutral Athlete/Team" designation, as well as the use of the Russian flag colors within the uniform's design.

However, the ruling also clarified that the sanctions do extend to any official World Championship and, subsequently, racing drivers from Russia are unable to officially represent Russia in FIA-sanctioned World Championships as long as the sanctions are in place.

2021

The IOC announced on 19 February 2021 that Russia would compete in both the 2020 Summer Olympics (which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia) and 2022 Winter Olympics under the acronym "ROC", after the name of the Russian Olympic Committee. However, the name of the committee itself in full could not be used to refer to the delegation. The ROC team would be represented by the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee. On 22 April, the IOC approved a fragment of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 to be used in place of the Russian national anthem.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, no more than ten Russians were allowed to compete in the Athletics competition and no more than two Russians (one male and one female) were allowed to compete in the Weightlifting competition due to doping. Two qualified Russian rowers were replaced in the rowing team after testing positive for the banned substance Meldonium and two qualified Russian swimmers were removed from the swimming team based on evidence from the Moscow Anti-Doping laboratory. On appeal to CAS, they were reinstated to the swimming squad and cleared to compete. Only one doping violation related to Russians competing at the Olympics was recorded. A triathlete tested positive for Erythropoietin (EPO) in an out of competition test five days before he competed at the Olympics.

2022

The medal ceremony for the Olympic figure skating team event, where the ROC won gold, originally scheduled for 8 February, was delayed over what International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson Mark Adams described as a situation that required "legal consultation" with the International Skating Union. Several media outlets reported on 9 February that the issue was over a positive test for trimetazidine by the ROC's Kamila Valieva, which was officially confirmed on 11 February. Valieva's sample in question was taken by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) at the 2022 Russian Figure Skating Championships on 25 December, but the sample was not analyzed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) laboratory where it was sent for testing until 8 February, one day after the team event concluded.

Valieva was assessed a provisional suspension after her positive result. But upon appeal, she was cleared by RUSADA's independent Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee (DAC) on 9 February, just a day after receiving the provisional suspension. Following formal appeals lodged by the IOC, the International Skating Union (ISU), and WADA to review RUSADA DAC's decision, the CAS was expected to hear the case on 13 February with a decision scheduled for announcement on 14 February ahead of her scheduled appearance in the women’s single event beginning 15 February. Due to Valieva being a minor at the time, as well as being classified as a "protected person" under WADA guidelines, RUSADA and the IOC announced on 12 February that they would broaden the scope of their respective investigations to include members of her entourage (e.g., coaches, team doctors, etc.).

On 14 February, the CAS ruled that Valieva would be allowed to compete in the women’s single event, deciding that preventing her from competing "would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances", though her gold medal in the team event was still under consideration. The favorable decision from the court was made in part due to her age, as minor athletes are subject to different rules than adult athletes.

2023

On 23 March 2023, World Athletics announced that Russia's doping suspension had been lifted nearly seven and a half years after they were suspended in November 2015. However, Russian athletes would still be banned due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

International competitions

Russian hosting

In July 2016, the International Olympic Committee said it would ask sports groups to choose other hosts, but Russia kept the right to hold some big sports events. These included the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup, and 2019 Winter Universiade. In September 2016, Russia was chosen to host the 2021 World Biathlon Championships because the IOC's suggestion did not apply to events already chosen or planned.

Some Olympic winners, like Steven Holcomb, Matthew Antoine, Martins Dukurs, and Lizzy Yarnold, questioned holding the FIBT World Championships 2017 in Sochi. Some countries thought about not joining, and Latvia’s skeleton team said it would not join if Sochi stayed the host, feeling that the “Olympic spirit was stolen in 2014.” On December 13, 2016, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation decided to move the event to another place. Some athletes were worried they might accidentally eat something not allowed if the host changed food or drinks, and others were concerned about Russian labs opening sealed bottles. If they could open bottles to help their own athletes, there was fear they might also change samples from other athletes.

Biathlon teams from the Czech Republic and Great Britain chose not to join a 2016–17 Biathlon World Cup event in Tyumen. On December 22, 2016, Russia said it would not host that World Cup event or the 2017 Biathlon Junior World Championships in Ostrov. The same day, the International Skating Union decided to move a speed skating event, the 2016–17 ISU Speed Skating World Cup stage in Chelyabinsk, because of “a lot of important proof and worries about whether competitors could attend.” Russia was later not allowed to host the 2016–17 FIS Cross-Country World Cup final stage and the 2021 World Biathlon Championships in Tyumen.

On December 22, 2017, it was reported that FIFA dismissed Jiri Dvorak, a doctor who was looking into doping in Russian football. FIFA said this dismissal was not related to his work on doping in Russian sports.

Russian participation

See also: Olympic Athletes from Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics

The IAAF allowed Russians who had tests done by groups outside Russia to compete as neutral athletes. They could not use the Russian flag, colors, or anthem.

There were suggestions to not let Russia join the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2018 Winter Paralympics, or to let Russians join only as neutral athletes. Later, Russia was allowed to compete as Olympic Athletes from Russia in the Winter Olympics and Neutral Paralympic Athletes in the Paralympics.

After a court decision in late 2020, the FIA, the group that controls car racing, said that racing drivers from Russia could not represent their country in any world championship races while the sanctions last. However, they could still race as neutral competitors.

Media coverage

Russian doping has been shown in several TV shows and documentaries in Germany, France, and the United States. Some of these include:

• Geheimsache Doping: Wie Russland seine Sieger macht (The Doping Secret: How Russia Creates Champions), ARD / Das Erste, aired 3 December 2014
• Geheimsache Doping. Im Schattenreich der Leichtathletik (The Doping Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics), ARD / Das Erste, aired 1 August 2015
• Geheimsache Doping: Russlands Täuschungsmanöver (The Doping Secret: Russia's Red Herrings), ARD / Westdeutscher Rundfunk, aired 6 March 2016
• Russia's Dark Secret, 60 Minutes / CBS News, aired 8 May 2016
• Plus vite, plus haut, plus dopés (Faster, higher, more doped), Arte in partnership with Le Monde, aired 7 June 2016
• Icarus, Netflix, directed by Bryan Fogel, 2017

Reactions

International

Some sportspeople from other countries said that an agency called WADA was slow to look into the issue, even though there were many clues over many years. WADA said they did not have the power to investigate until 2015. One former leader of WADA said they always found reasons not to act and waited for Russia to fix the problem themselves. In 2016, many groups of athletes and leaders from many countries sent a letter saying they were unhappy with the lack of action and felt that the system to stop unfair practices was not working.

In July 2016, a group of athletes and leaders said they were shocked to see how much unfair practice there was and how much lying was happening. Leaders from many countries asked that Russia not be allowed to compete in the Olympics that year. Some people said it was not fair to ban the whole team, but others felt that Russia had gone too far with unfair practices. One leader said that if Russia was not banned, it would set a bad example. Another said that the group in charge seemed to be making decisions that did not upset Russia, even though many people felt something needed to be done.

In Russia

Some people in Russia thought the accusations were made to hurt Russia, while others said that all countries have similar problems. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said that Russia had never supported unfair practices and called the accusations part of an effort to hurt Russia. Some leaders in Russia said the accusations were made to get back at Russia for its independent ways. One Russian athlete said that foreign athletes were worried about competing fairly.

After some Russian athletes were not allowed to compete, one athlete said that foreign athletes could now win medals without real competition. Russia’s foreign ministry called the decision unfair. A survey showed that most people in Russia did not believe the reports about unfair practices.

Some Russian leaders said that the person who shared information about unfair practices was treated badly by the media. Others said that reports from other countries were part of a plan to weaken Russia. One leader compared the situation to being treated unfairly by police, saying everyone else was doing the same thing. Another writer said that Russia was acting like it was always the victim, blaming others for problems. Some reporters said that Russia kept saying it was being attacked politically, even though the issues were about unfair practices in sports.

After a decision in 2016, one Russian leader said it was a fair choice and that doping was a problem everywhere, not just in Russia. Some Russian media seemed very happy with the decision. A reporter from Russian television even said that the leader of the Olympics was helping Russia, and asked if the investigations were a political attack.

In 2017, it was reported that a rich person in Russia paid an athlete to keep quiet about unfair practices. In 2019, Russia’s president again said the decision to ban some athletes was political and did not follow the rules for the Olympics. He said Russia should still be allowed to compete under its own flag. Another leader also said the ban was political and part of ongoing problems against Russia.

Statistics

The World Anti-Doping Agency makes reports every year about rule breaks in sports. Russia was at the top for these breaks from 2013 to 2015 and again from 2018 to 2022.

Stripped Olympic medals

See also: List of stripped Olympic medals

Because of rule breaks, Russia lost many Olympic medals. By 2019, they had lost 43 medals, which is more than any other country. This is almost four times more than the country that lost the second most medals. These medals came from several Olympic Games, including the 2002 Winter Olympics, 2006 Winter Olympics, 2008 Summer Olympics, 2010 Winter Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics, 2014 Winter Olympics, 2004 Summer Olympics, and 2016 Summer Olympics. By 2021, the total number of medals taken away grew to 51.

Hashtag controversy

Further information: Internet Research Agency

Some people in Russia used the internet to spread a message on Twitter saying #NoRussiaNoGames after Russia was not allowed to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics. One account, @ungestum, said it was from the city of Orenburg and sent many tweets with just this hashtag. It looks like these tweets were sent by computers instead of real people. A group of accounts also helped spread the hashtag many times, sharing links that were not about news in Russian and often repeating each other’s posts. One of these accounts, @03_ppm, sent over 275 tweets with the hashtag.