On Saturday, the British tabloid Daily Mail published an interview with Grigory Rodchenkov . The former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory in it voiced the usual and repeatedly sounded set of accusations against Russian sports. The correspondent ponders why the figure of the «Elusive Grisha», worn over the past years, was taken out of a dusty closet right now.
Grigory Rodchenkov, the main «revealer of sins» of Russian sports, did not appear in the information space for several years. Although since 2015 — the starting point of the work of all kinds of commissions, according to the results of which the Russian team performed at the Olympics in Rio in an incomplete composition, and at the Games in Pyeongchang, Tokyo and Beijing — without a flag and an anthem, loomed in it regularly. At first, Rodchenkov spoke to Western media, and in 2020 he appeared in the Russian-language media space.
As a result of all the data provided by Rodchenkov to the world anti-doping services, hundreds of Russian athletes were punished with various terms of disqualification and deprivation of awards. Although many did not even pass a positive doping test. The ex-head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory himself, fearing for his life, changed his appearance already in exile. To this day, according to the Daily Mail, Rodchenkov continues to move from one American home to another.
Russia nevertheless suffered punishment. Let's leave out of the brackets now the question of whether it was deserved or not. In December 2022, the WADA sanctions expired, and the Russians, in theory, got the opportunity to compete under their own flag again. True, in practice this almost never happened in any sport due to sanctions in connection with the conduct of a special military operation in Ukraine. But, if this fact is also left out of the brackets in this material, even in athletics — the sport that has suffered the most damage in our country over all these years — Russia was recognized in March 2023 as having fully redeemed itself.
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What new did Rodchenkov say in his interview? Let's take a look at his thesis point by point:
«I wasn't sure that the sample swapping plan at the Sochi Olympics would work. WADA inspectors were everywhere. The system could have been opened many times. But thanks to the FSB, everything turned out perfectly.»
This ex-lab chief already said in 2016.
«»The current system of doping control remains weak. Many clean athletes are victims of dirty ones — including those who train in countries with a state doping system.»
Nothing new.
«»I am honored that the US Congress called anti-doping law in my name, but the law should be applied more widely.»
The same opera.
Also, in an interview without a quote, it is indirectly said that Rodchenkov accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of covering doping system. Only this statement has already been voiced earlier.
“The IOC never cared about penalizing doping and nothing has changed. I hope my book, which gives a fuller history of the Russian doping system from my diaries that I was able to get out of Russia, will finally get the IOC to impose meaningful and sustainable punishment against Russian athletes — until Russia completely reforms the system of sports training, which will take at least a decade.»
But such statements have never been heard before. Considering that the Daily Mail, in parallel with Rodchenkov’s interview, released a second article in which, on behalf of its authors, it accuses the IOC of inaction and pandering to Russia, it becomes clear that the vector of the attack, in which the former head of the Moscow laboratory is used as a warhead, has changed. Now the «Rodchenkov» rocket has been launched into the main international sports organization, to which all attention has been riveted for the last year and a half, because it sets the tone for the actions of sports federations in relation to athletes from Russia and Belarus.
And, of course, now it becomes clear why these materials appeared in the British tabloids right now. In March of this year, the IOC issued recommendations to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international competitions in a neutral status. Many federations followed them, and the experience turned out to be, as the IOC itself admits, positive — in several sports they even held world championships with the participation of Russians and Belarusians. Not to mention the fact that in the same tennis and a number of other types they were not removed at all. In the coming months, and perhaps even weeks, the IOC should decide on the admission of athletes from Russia and Belarus to the Olympics, and the organization's president, Thomas Bach, has repeatedly made it clear that it should be positive.
Here it is deployed by those who do not want to allow this, their guns in the direction of Lausanne. Well, one can only advise Bach to hold on. And also — open your eyes and get up from one of the two chairs on which he is trying to sit, at the same time insisting on the participation of the entire Olympic family in the competition, and on depriving two of his members of national symbols, and introducing absurd admission criteria. Even if the IOC allows Russian and Belarusian athletes to the Olympics not only without a flag, anthem and colors, but also without names and surnames, those who want to bury Russian sports in a hundred-year-old pit will still be dissatisfied. As in the old Russian proverb about the wolf, which will still look into the forest. So is it worth feeding him?
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.