Grigory Rodchenkov

Life and career

In 2006, Rodchenkov became the director of a Moscow laboratory named the Anti-Doping Centre. He and his sister, champion runner Marina Rodchenkova, were under investigation in 2011 for illegally selling drugs. Rodchenkov was hospitalized in March 2011 following a suicide attempt, and was later diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder exacerbated by stress. Charges against him were eventually dropped, but his sister was convicted and sentenced to a year and a half in prison.

British journalist Nick Harris said that he (Harris) had contacted the International Olympic Committee with allegations about the laboratory in early July 2013. In November 2015, the laboratory was suspended by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following a report alleging state-sponsored doping in Russia. Fearing for his safety, he fled to the United States.

Rodchenkov discussed doping at the Sochi Olympics with whistle-blower Vitaly Stepanov, who recorded 15 hours of their conversations without his knowledge. Rodchenkov also gave details to The New York Times, alleging that the Federal Security Service (FSB) was involved in covering up positive doping samples. In July 2016, McLaren Report, an independent investigation commissioned by WADA found corroborating evidence after conducting witness interviews, reviewing thousands of documents, cyber analysis of hard drives, forensic analysis of urine sample collection bottles, and laboratory analysis of individual athlete samples, with "more evidence becoming available by the day."

Reactions

Following the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Rodchenkov the Order of Friendship. In 2016, Putin called Rodchenkov a "man with a scandalous reputation".