Whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov has been awarded the 2020 William Hill Sports Book of the Year honour for his book recalling how the former laboratory chief exposed Russia's state-sponsored . But Grigory Rodchenkov's story is more than just a tale of Olympic cheating, it's a window into Vladimir Putin's Russia. These are lies, plain and simple. By the time the Games ended, Rodchenkov was exhausted. He was also the subject of a 2017 Netflix documentary that further revealed the workings of the Russian operation, in which officials allegedly tampered with hundreds, if not thousands, of drug samples to shield the countrys Olympic athletes from punishment. Wake up to the day's most important news. I have long been fascinated by the motivations of those who work for Putins shadow state: why do it? How much did the Russian president know? Grigory Rodchenkov: Vitaly Mutko reported to Putin. Rodchenkov discussed doping at the Sochi Olympics with whistle-blower Vitaly Stepanov, who recorded 15 hours of their conversations without his knowledge. With Fogels help, the scientist escaped to the United States in 2015. Dr. Rodchenkov and Bryan Fogel in Icarus, I also want to take the opportunity today to challenge the latest misinformation campaign coming out of the Kremlin, said Walden. He is the former director of Russia's antidoping lab who oversaw drug testing at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Rodchenkov made headlines in 2016 after an interview to The New York Times exposing a state-run doping program in Russia. Because we had to assume that there was a team of Russians here looking for him. In an editorial published in the American newspaper USA Today, Rodchenkov expressed his dismay at the decision calling it catastrophic. . Rodchenkov says writing his tell-all book was easy. In February, two former senior officials at the previously Wada-accredited Russian anti-doping agency died unexpectedly. There is information that my life in jeopardy, and we took all necessary steps. To catch cheaters it should be intelligence and it should be whistleblower information [not just urine samples], he says. They are friends since early years in St. Petersburg since '90s. Chop some celery, courgettes, carrots and garlic and slow boil for 5-10 minutes. Grigory Rodchenkov says tens of thousands of elite athletes spanning every major sport have got away with doping, and continue to do so in nations all around the world, aided and abetted in many . The samples went into these tamper-proof bottles used by the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency. Scott Pelley: Vladimir Putin wants you to stop talking? In November 2015, the Independent Commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had determined that . Grigory came to the United States only after a friend of his from the Kremlin told him that the FSB is coming to kill him, that they were going to stage his suicide, Walden told me. The IOC banned the Russian Olympic Committee on Tuesday from appearing at the 2018 Olympics and permanently barred two high-ranking Russian officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, from involvement in the games. Thirty-nine Russian athletes banned for doping have since appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which adjudicates Olympic disputes, hoping to still be able to participate at Pyeongchang next month. Between 2007-2011, the FSB broke repeatedly into my flat when I was the Guardian and Observers correspondent in Moscow, a small platoon of ghosts. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. After Grigory Rodchenkov left his position as the director of a Russian anti-doping lab, in November of 2015, some burly guards showed up in his front yard. Scott Pelley: And of the 13, how many of those do you believe were won by athletes who were dirty? Rodchenkov says Putin sent in the FSB, the secret spy agency he once headed. In January 2016, Rodchenkov takes a flight from Moscow to Los Angeles fearing for his safety, and settles in the United States where he is currently in the witness protection program. They are cheaters by their natures. He is seen as one of the most successful Scientist of all times. There are currently 298 cases pending against individuals across 27 sports. Its exciting, and Im very honored, Fogel tells Deadline. Yet 169 Russian athletes were later permitted to compete as the Olympic Athletes From Russia contingent, claiming 17 medals. The super-lab's name is a misnomer. In 2015, an outspoken critic of Putin and his party was, . Rodchenkovs wife and children, who still live in Russia, have had their assets frozen, property seized, and their passports temporarily seized. I was scared for two or three days only. I know it will never stop, he says, even when Putin dies., Luke Harding is the author of Shadow State: Murder, Mayhem and Russias Remaking of the West, available from the Guardian Bookshop, Russian doping mastermind benefited from London 2012 drugs preview, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, The Kremlin wants me dead: Russia's sports doping whistleblower speaks out. You can do nothing. , He obviously loves his country very much, and hopes theyd do something atypical for its government and accept responsibility.. Russias president has a long list of enemies. Add shredded beets and carrots, plus chopped tomato and leek, and slow boil for a . Scott Pelley: To win at any cost at the World Championships and the Sochi Olympics? Before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia jailed environmental activists who criticized the government and the games. Nikita had been writing a book. Rodchenkov, came out of hiding to speak with us because he hopes this interview might save his life. He concludes his book by writing: I am happy, finally, to be on the side of truth. This is an admirable sentiment, but Rodchenkov is well aware of the price his moral stance entails. Grigory Rodchenkov in 2007, when he was director of Russia's anti-doping laboratory President Vladimir Putin has called the whistle-blower who has provided evidence of what investigators say. To "win at any cost," Rodchenkov formulated an illicit performance-enhancing prescription that contained three banned drugs. The lab had a secure side and a non-secure side, separated by a locked door. He became a whistleblower on the extensive doping program he had overseen and which had been used to boost the Russian teams performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. "It was a student," he recalled. After blowing the whistle on Kremlin doping, Rodchenkov went into hiding, moving locations on multiple occasions. He doesnt wish ill on clean Russian athletes. Rodchenkov points out that a country without a WADA lab, like Kenya which has a CPI rating of 28, will also likely be riddled with institutional corruption, including in anti-doping. The Doping Control station during the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games in Russia. Rodchenkov was director of Moscows anti-doping centre. It has nothing to do with sports. Rodchenkov believes the punishments imposed upon Russia in the upcoming Olympics are fair and appropriate, Walden said on the call Tuesday. The fraud reached its apogee at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, hosted by Putin and a moment of patriotic pride. This Article is related to: Film and tagged Bryan Fogel, Icarus, Netflix. One Russian Olympic official has publicly called for Rodchenkov to be shot. I was with people who are killers, and other criminals, people being assessed as to whether they needed to face court or have healing care. Grigory Mikhailovich Rodchenkov (Russian: ; born 24 October 1958) is the former head of Russias national anti-doping laboratory, the Anti-Doping Center. Rodchenkov believes both were murdered. Incorrigibles, 15%. They included the 2012 London Olympics, the dirtiest in history, according to Rodchenkov. The Act was named after the whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, who helped expose Russia's state-sponsored doping programme. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Grigory Rodchenkov: I do believe. When the cap is tightenedit locks. Scott Pelley: This was cheating on an industrial scale. Scott Pelley: How many countries are doping? Working in the dead of night, the scientists and the spooks exchanged bottles, as the athletes samples arrived. Produced by Henry Schuster and Rachael Morehouse. Otherwise you have only 1-2 per cent of positives as WADA reports in their annual reports, but doesnt reflect the real situation.. He is a fan of Fielding, Dickens and Thackeray as well as Walter Scott and Iris Murdoch. But a Moscow court has since issued a warrant for his arrest, and one Russian Olympic official publicly called for his execution. They came out on top of the medal count. At the end of the games, Russia came out on top with 33 medals. What he wishes is that the world would come together and stop paying lip service to the need for anti-doping reform. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Grigory Rodchenkov, who helped Russian athletes get away with doping before blowing the whistle on them and now fears for his life, is the focus of "Icarus," a documentary with an agenda. But it had--. The cloak-and-dagger atmospherics surrounding our interview might seem a little overblown. Russias president Vladimir Putin would be glad to see Rodchenkov dead for exposing that cheating, and the latters just-published autobiography, extracts of which appeared in the Mail on Sunday last month, details this and more. Scott Pelley: No Russian athlete was ever found dirty at the Sochi Games? Prokhorov is paying the biathletes legal fees for the New York State Supreme Court case. During that hearing, Walden discussed Rodchenkovs work in detail and suggested that the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee needed to do more to restore integrity to international sport. Much as outrage over Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea has dimmed, the repercussions from the doping scandal have begun to wane. Rodchenkov says that he, his assistants and FSB agents, worked through the night to replace dirty Russian urine samples with clean samples that had been collected and frozen before the games. The IOC refused Waldens demand that Russia stop threatening Rodchenkov. Send us a tip using our annonymous form. An FSB officer, Evgeny Blokhin, oversaw the entire operation, disguised as an innocent plumber. He enjoys the Russian greats too Lermontov, Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, plus the poets Joseph Brodsky and Daniil Kharms. They are still obsessed with Leninist ideas. He has been in the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) witness protection programme for almost five years since fleeing his homeland and turning whistleblower. Rodchenkov also gave details to The New York Times, alleging that the Federal Security Service (FSB) was involved in covering up positive doping samples. Grigory Mikhailovich Rodchenkov has a net worth of $5.00 million (Estimated) which he earned from his occupation as Scientist. The American newspaper USA Today, Rodchenkov went into these tamper-proof bottles used by the time the Games,... Courgettes, carrots and garlic and slow boil for a carrots, plus tomato... 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