In November 2015, I escaped Russia determined to tell the world about my country’s doping program for Olympic athletes. As the former director of Russia’s antidoping center, I disclosed indisputable evidence of widespread, state-sanctioned cheating by my country, hoping this would lead to change.
But the expectation I once had for meaningful reform is beginning to fade. In recent weeks, news reports have strongly suggested that the World Antidoping Agency is trying to find a way to walk away from the findings of its own independent investigator, who identified over 1,000 Russian athletes at the Sochi Games and in other competitions who might have used performance-enhancing drugs.
Based on recommendations from international sports federations, the agency recently agreed to clear 95 of the first 96 athletes whose cases of doping have been reviewed, citing “lack of evidence.” No one from WADA or the federations ever sought to interview me, though I was available and willing to cooperate.
Russia has yet to confess and cooperate in the investigation, as WADA has demanded, or disclose the damning evidence of its complicity, including tainted urine samples and backup data for its lab equipment, which would further confirm the findings of the agency’s independent investigator, Richard McLaren.
Of the medals fraudulently earned by Russian athletes at the Sochi Games, not one has been withdrawn by the International Olympic Committee. The Winter Olympics begins in South Korea in February, yet it is unclear whether the I.O.C. can finish its own investigations of Russian doping before the competition starts. (WADA, which enforces the world antidoping code, is separate from the I.O.C.) Of the two I.O.C. commissions established to investigate Russian doping, only one asked for my evidence — and that was just two weeks ago. Russia is emboldened when no one holds it to account, and we have all seen the consequences.
Of the medals fraudulently earned by Russian athletes at the Sochi Games, not one has been withdrawn by the International Olympic Committee. The Winter Olympics begins in South Korea in February, yet it is unclear whether the I.O.C. can finish its own investigations of Russian doping before the competition starts. (WADA, which enforces the world antidoping code, is separate from the I.O.C.) Of the two I.O.C. commissions established to investigate Russian doping, only one asked for my evidence — and that was just two weeks ago. Russia is emboldened when no one holds it to account, and we have all seen the consequences.
Russia has refused to accept responsibility. My former boss, Vitaly Mutko, a deputy prime minister and former minister of sport, has repeatedly denied knowledge of my activities as director of the Moscow Anti-Doping Center, where I oversaw Russia’s doping program with help from several agents of the Federal Security Bureau (formerly the K.G.B.), and many government officials. If anyone believes I could have done all of this without the sports minister’s knowledge and support, they know nothing of Russia. Let me be clear: Mr. Mutko knew about, and was critical to the success of, Russia’s doping program. The very fact that Russia is pursuing criminal charges against me — and only me — for misusing my position tells one everything they need to know: This is a witch hunt, and I am the witch.
Let’s also be clear that doped athletes in Russia are, in many ways, victims, too. In the Russian system, they do not have much choice but to cheat, even if some did so enthusiastically. Many, even most, would prefer to compete without doping, without the constant fear of getting caught. That’s why I was happy, on one level, when those 95 athletes were cleared. Perhaps they will have a chance to redeem themselves, should Russia ever permit clean competition by its athletes.
I know that I shocked many people by revealing my country’s doping program. I apologize to everyone I disappointed by helping Russia cheat. When senior officials in Russia direct you to do something, you do not ask questions. I had no choice.
Telling the truth is not easy, especially when there are severe consequences for doing so. My comrade and friend, Nikita Kamayev, the longtime director of Russia’s antidoping agency, Rusada, found out the hard way: A healthy man in the prime of life, he had a fatal “heart attack” — Russia’s favored way to eliminate enemies — after the Kremlin learned he was writing a book about the doping program. Even the newly appointed director of that agency, Yuri Ganus, this week raised questions about the deaths of Mr. Kamaev and Vyacheslav Sinev, the agency’s former chairman. Both were witnesses to the Russian doping program.
I did not embark on this journey — and leave my family — willingly. Two days before I fled, a friend within the government warned me that Russia was planning my “suicide.” I thought that my family might be safer with me gone and, if I were to die, at least I would get to tell the truth to the world first.
I hope the evidence I have laid out will lead to changes, though there is concern among antidoping officials around the world that WADA, whose executive committee meets on Sunday in Paris, may drop its requirements that Russia accept responsibility for its state-sponsored doping program and handover all its evidence. This would be an ominous turn in the battle for clean sports competition.
The Russian system is in desperate need of reform. While problems exist in many places, Russia has been the world’s pre-eminent and most organized doping violator. If the I.O.C. and WADA do not enforce the antidoping agency’s own reform program for Russia, clean athletes everywhere will continue to suffer unfair defeat.
At a minimum, the I.O.C. should require that Russian athletes be sequestered during the Games and subject to independent, stringent testing, and compete not for their country but as neutrals as punishment for Russia’s transgressions.
My conscience is now clean, after having cooperated with international antidoping authorities, although my future is uncertain. I will continue to press for reform, give truthful testament about Russia’s misdeeds, and help protect clean athletes against the cheats. I owe them that. I hope the I.O.C. and WADA embrace that same commitment, and refuse to sweep Russia’s transgressions under the rug. The world — and many thousands of clean athletes — are watching.
Grigory Rodchenkov, an analytic chemist, was the director of Moscow's Antidoping Center.