Previous allegations by Stepanov led to a WADA investigation that found systematic, state-sponsored doping in Russia’s athletics program, and it was banned indefinitely from worldwide competition.
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Former Russian anti-doping agency worker Vitaly Stepanov made the claims on CBS network’s 60 Minutes programme.
WADA spokesman Ben Nichols said before 2015, WADA didn’t have authority to conduct its own investigations, and officials didn’t think turning the information over to Russian investigators “would have led to the scrutiny required”.
CBS News reported on Sunday that whistleblower Vitaly Stepanov has tapes of the former head of Russia’s drug testing laboratory telling him that at least four Russian gold medallists at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi were using steroids. Stepanov is a former official with the Russian Anti-Doping agency, and now lives in the United States for fear of retribution.
The report by “60 Minutes” focused on Yuliya Stepanov, who was not long ago one of Russia’s elite runners, and her husband Vitaly, who worked as a low-level employee with Russia’s national anti-doping agency RUSADA.
In the complete interview that aired on Sunday, Stepanov said he had recorded more than 15 hours of conversations with Rodchenkov, who told him that officers of Russia’s FSB security service “tried to control every single step of the anti-doping process in Sochi”.
“It is obvious that someone wants to harm Russian sport”, Mutko said.
“All his so-called revelations are based on speculation”, Mutko told Russia’s TASS news agency. The International Association of Athletics Federations will decide next month if the team will be reinstated to compete in the upcoming Rio Games.
Anti-doping procedures in Sochi “took place under very tight control” and were not Russia’s responsibility, Mutko said, adding that the latest claims were part of a campaign to tarnish Russia’s reputation. “In addition to Russian specialists, doping control stations also employed foreign experts”.
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Rodchenkov resigned his position in November, a day after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suspended his lab’s accreditation. “Furthermore, a team of independent observers managed the doping control operations on a daily basis during the Games”.
