15 August 2016

Russia was doping during Soviet era, report alleges

The New York Times has uncovered evidence that state-sponsored doping may have existed in Russia during the Soviet era. As part of an interview with Dr. Grigory Vorobiev, a doctor for the Russian athletics team from 1959 to 1996, a letter has been uncovered signed by Dr. Sergei Portugalov containing detailed instructions on a doping plan for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Russia eventually withdrew from the 1984 Olympics, partly in retaliation for a US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Dr. Vorobiev was a founding member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Medical Committee. His patients included hundreds of high profile elite athletes, however whilst he admitted administering performance-enhancing substances to athletes, he emphasises that not everybody chose to take them.

Dr. Portugalov took over from Dr. Vorobiev as Chief Medical Officer of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) in 1996. In the first Independent Commission (IC) report into allegations of systemic Russian doping for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), he was accused of providing banned substances to Russian athletes and involvement in accepting a percentage of athlete earnings in exchange for covering up positive tests. On 11 March, the IAAF reported that RusAF was ‘taking measures’ to exclude Portugalov from sport following the recommendation of the IC.

The letter contains a plan for administering steroid injections to athletes who are medal contenders and had responded well to low oral doses of steroids in the past. They suggest administering the injections during the last week of February and first two weeks of March, stopping 145 to 157 days before competition in order to avoid detection. Three additional drugs were also suggested for use: Retabolil, Stromba and Stromba-jet, forms of the steroids nandrolone decanoate and stanozolol.

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