Russia executed state-run doping program in Sochi, former insider alleges

Dozens of Russian athletes competing at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi were involved in a state-run doping program, Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of Russia's anti-doping laboratory, told Rebecca R. Ruiz and Michael Schwirtz The New York Times.

The host nation won the most medals of the Games, including 13 golds - 10 more than at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. Several medal winners were allegedly involved in the doping operation, including cross-country skiers, bobsledders, and the entire women's hockey team.

Rodchenkov told the Times he developed a cocktail of three anabolic steroids that he provided to Russian athletes mixed with liquor. The drugs were intended to help athletes recover quickly and compete at top form over a short span of days.

Then, members of the Russian intelligence service allegedly replaced tainted urine samples with clean urine collected months earlier by passing bottles through small holes in the wall under the darkness of night.

No Russian athletes were caught using a banned substance during the Games.

In the fall, the World Anti-Doping Agency accused Rodchenkov of being a key player in a state-run doping program in Russia focused primarily on summer sports. Rodchenkov was forced to resign, despite having been awarded the Order of Friendship by Russian president Vladimir Putin after the Sochi Olympics.

Now, Rodchenkov resides in Los Angeles and is working on a documentary with filmmaker Bryan Fogel about the doping operation.