Russia’s Minister of Sport Vitaly Mutko, left, with President Vladimir Putin, said the accusations were ‘very made up’ – but did report the disgraced head of the Moscow lab had been removed.MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFP / Getty Images
World sports authorities are moving to punish Russia for rampant drug use in track and field, but a key Canadian investigator says the country has time to quickly rehabilitate its testing systems so its track team isn't banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics.
On Tuesday, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suspended the Moscow testing lab that's at the centre of a report an agency commission issued on Monday. It found widespread cheating, and proposed that Russia be banned from upcoming international track events.
The executive committee of WADA meets next Tuesday in Colorado to discuss more moves. This coming Friday, the International Athletics Association Federations (IAAF) will meet to consider sanctions against Russia – starting with a ban from international track and field events.
Some current and retired IAAF officials, however, have themselves been accused of taking bribes and engaged in cover-ups.
Russia presented a panoply of responses on Tuesday.
A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said the accusations were "rather unfounded" and claimed there was "no evidence."
On state television, Russia's Minister of Sport, Vitaly Mutko, said the accusations were "very made up" – but did report the disgraced head of the Moscow lab had been removed. Meanwhile, Russia's track and field boss, Vadim Zelichenok, begged for leniency: "We hope for prudence from the IAAF."
In an interview, Richard McLaren, a law professor and international sport arbitration expert who was one of three WADA investigators, said Russia has the chance to remake itself.
"Where there's a will and the money, there's a way," McLaren said on Tuesday.
He recalled a Sept. 22 meeting that he and the two other investigators – Canada's Dick Pound and Germany's Gunter Younger – had with Mutko at Zurich's posh Hotel Baur au Lac, where Mutko, also a senior soccer official, was attending FIFA meetings. McLaren said Mutko conceded he faced domestic challenges in Russia: "He did say, 'Look, I have my own problems within Russia in terms of getting money for sport, and if you can help me by making strong recommendations, I'll implement it.'"
McLaren estimated Russia could remedy its testing problems within four months, but it would cost at least several million dollars. Until the lab suspension is lifted, Russia will have to spend more money to test its athletes at international facilities.
This would lift a central stain on Russia, restoring credibility to its lab. It would also probably head off the threat of Russian track and field athletes being banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Testing in Russia and around the world must become more stringent, the investigators said on Monday. McLaren spoke about international labs returning positive tests only about 3 per cent of the time, despite studies that suggest at least 10 per cent of athletes are cheating.
McLaren, a professor at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont., has long experience with the Court of Arbitration for Sport – known as the Supreme Court for sports. He was also a key part of the investigation into widespread doping in baseball, helping to author the 2007 Mitchell Report.
All sports face cheating to some extent, McLaren said – but endurance sports such as middle-distance running, where Russia was hit, are a bigger concern. The use of biological passports – that focus on blood tests rather than the more simple testing of urine – is part of the reason Russia was eventually caught.
Some athletes who were directly hurt by the cheating have spoken out. Alysia Montano, an accomplished American middle-distance runner, finished fifth in the 800-metre competition at the 2012 London Olympics, which the WADA report said was "sabotaged" by allowing cheating athletes to compete. Montano could now be in line to receive bronze if the Russian gold and bronze medalists are banned for life, as proposed.
"When you're cheated out of a medal and you know it, it eats at you," Montano told Sports Illustrated. "I want retribution, and justice."
Athletes such as Canada's Hilary Stellingwerff can't get back what was lost. The runner barely missed the 1,500-m final in London by a spot – and the final featured presumed cheaters. "I was so gutted," Stellingwerff told The Canadian Press. "You just know athletes shouldn't be in there." Because of the cheaters, Stellingwerff and others who were edged out of Olympic finals lost income from sponsorships and government funding.
When McLaren landed at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Tuesday, he was recognized by the customs official who checked his documents. She spoke about her worry about her own children. "Athletes," McLaren said, "are heroes to a lot of youngsters." And, likewise, McLaren pointed to athletes such as Montano and Stellingwerff. "They're clean and they know they're clean," he said, "and they're fighting against people they know who aren't. That's pretty devastating."
David Ebner