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Investigators get more evidence disclaiming Rodchenkov’s allegations of swapping urine samples of Russian athletes in Sochi

The Head Office of the Investigative Committee continues criminal proceedings against former acting director of the Anti-Doping Center Grigory Rodchenkov charged with abuse of power and destruction of doping samples.

As was reported before, during interviews of more than 700 athletes, coaches, medical workers of Russian national teams, employees of the All-Russian Sports Federation, Federal Training Sport Center of the representative teams of Russia, nobody of them reported the use of doping or the steroid cocktail called by Rodchenkov - Duchesse.

Additionally, investigators have some additional evidence that Rodchenkov’s allegations about swapping samples in Sochi are not true.

Doping samples forwarding protocols and documents regarding registration of samples and aliquoting of athletes Sergei Chudinov, Inna Dyubanyuk, Alexander Legkov, Yelena Nikitina, Maria Orlova, Olga Potylitsyna, Yevgenia Shapovalova, Anna Shibanova, Alexander Tretyakov, Olga Vilukhina, Aleksei Voyevoda, Yevgeny Belov, Albert Demchenko, Alexander Bessmertnykh, Aleksei Petukhov in 2014 in Sochi. The Oswald Commission banned all of them for life for violating anti-doping rule, based on Rodchenkov’s allegations.

The documents read that the doping samples were admitted into the Sochi lab during daytime, were registered there and then were forwarded for testing within a period of between 30 minutes and 2 hours.

This disclaims Rodchenkov’s statement that the samples of the said Russian athletes were stored and then swapped at night to the so-called clean samples, and that only after the samples had been switched, they were tested for doping.

The investigators have no evidence that the samples were manipulated with during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Employees of the Anti-Doping Center, who worked at the Sochi lab, swore under oath that no actions to switch urine samples had taken place.

The investigation is open for cooperation with foreign competent authorities, international NGOs, including WADA, the International Olympic Committee and FIFA and expects mutual assistance from them. However, foreign competent authorities and international sports organizations still refrain from assisting the investigation as international requests on interviewing Rodchenkov, McLaren and correspondent Seppelt and on WADA producing any evidence of Russia’s guilt remain unanswered.

 

Spokesperson for the Investigative Committee                                                                                     Svetlana Petrenko