All 63 Russian blood samples from Sochi 2014 were re-analyzed as negative – IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has released a statement regarding the latest report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren on alleged state-sponsored doping during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
The statement follows the second part of the WADA-commissioned report by McLaren that was presented on Friday.
The report claims that over 1,000 Russian athletes and parathletes benefited from an alleged plot to conceal positive doping tests. However, the names of the athletes were not provided in the report.
“The IOC thanks professor McLaren and his team for the completed independent person report and acknowledges the evidence produced,” the IOC report reads.
“The IOC will re-analyse all 254 urine samples collected from Russian athletes at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, since Prof. McLaren’s mandate did not include a full re-analysis of all these samples.
“All 63 blood samples collected from Russian athletes at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 have already been re-analysed by the IOC in cooperation with Prof. McLaren, and were all negative.”
The first part of the McLaren report was published on July 18 this year, and led to a near-blanket ban on Russian track and field athletes participating at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, as well as a total ban on Russian athletes for the Rio Paralympics.
The probe was based on accusations made in the New York Times by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, who himself said he was part of the sample swapping system.
