Asked if Russian athletes would be able to compete at the Rio Olympics this summer, Peskov said Mutko would need to answer this, but added: “We hope that all will be well”.
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Rodchenkov told The New York Times dozens of Russian competitors – including at least 15 medal winners – were part of a state-run doping programme which was carefully planned to ensure the host nation’s dominance at the Games.
Rodchenkov, fearing for his safety and now living at a secret location in Los Angeles, made the sensational claims to the New York Times on Thursday.
Cross-country skier Aleksandr Legkov, who won gold and silver at Sochi, told the Sport Ekspres newspaper that “I am sure of myself 300 million percent”.
Rodchenkov said he then switched out tainted urine samples for clean ones at the doping lab used for the games in Sochi, with help from people he believed to be officers of the Russian security services.
Each night, they worked in a shadow laboratory lit by a single lamp, passing bottles of urine through a hand-size hole in the wall, to be ready for testing the next day, he said.
Rodchenkov estimated that as many as 100 dirty samples were successfully covered up at the event – where Russian Federation finished ahead of the United States at the top of the medals table. Kenya tied Jamaica for the most gold medals, with seven, at last year’s world championships. The United States placed fourth, with 28.
Back in November 2015, a massive doping scandal involving members of Russia’s track and field teams was uncovered.
Clearly, these cheating issues are widespread throughout the country and are not exclusive to one sport.
“It just seems like, you know, some kind of a turncoat’s libel”, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added, though he did not specifically name Rodchenkov.
Rodchenkov described his own work at Sochi as a “strong accomplishment”, the apex of a decade-long effort to ideal Russia’s doping strategy at worldwide competitions.
Sky News revealed earlier this week that anti-doping officials had been repeatedly prevented from testing athletes, and WADA has now confirmed the scale of the problem.
“The system of organisation of the Olympic Games was completely transparent”, Mutko told Tass.
Zubkov carried the Russian flag at the opening ceremony for the Sochi Olympics and won gold in the two-man and four-man bobsled events at age 39, becoming one of the oldest pilots to win an Olympic event.
“As far as Kenya’s participation is concerned across all sports at the Olympic Games in Rio, the IAAF notes that WADA has referred its decision on non-compliance to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and UNESCO for their consideration and action”, the IAAF said. Athletics officials as well as former champions called for urgent intervention.
Kenya passed an act of parliament in April to criminalise doping, but WADA said on Thursday it needed to make changes to ensure compliance with the code, which sets a framework for consistent rules and policies around the world.
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Putin personally backed Russia’s bid, even giving an emotional speech in English to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
