Let's remember to give thanks for honest people (even if they are only honest after the fact) and for rights such as asylum that allow people to flee from one country to another. Maybe someday we will bring back our own honest citizen (Snowden) from the dishonest country he was forced to turn to.
1
If the punishment for this egregious case of blatant, premeditated and carefully planned cheating is not sufficiently severe, then the credibility of the Olympics is no better than steroid-tainted urine furtively flushed by scheming, dishonest athletes and their grifter handlers. Both should be flushed down the toilet.
1
Fair or not, different nations get certain reputations for national traits. The Russians are doing a great job securing their reputation for dishonesty and deceit.
2
Guys, we so sick that we gave up hockey to Canadians. We can say that the whole Olympics was started for the sake of winning in hockey. So the problem with doping - yes, unpleasant, but not critical.
from the article:
"Dr. Rodchenkov is living in an undisclosed location in the United States under protection by American authorities. His lawyer said Dr. Rodchenkov had been fully cooperative with American and international agencies concerning Russia’s doping program."
My neighbor's daughter just overdosed, and barely survived. If our government spent as much money and effort on our heroin crisis, as they are spending on this totally unimportant nonsense, it would be a very good thing.
5
I do not understand why someone is talking about "dirty" Olympics, about all athletes, etc. Only Russia has state-sponsored doping program, not, for example, France nor the USA. Armstrong's doping case was just his own mistake. All Russian atletes and in general all Russians participate in this doping program, one way or another, and they don't protest, that's the point. Worse still most of Russians believe that such athletes are kind of great heroes. So the ban of Russia is the right thing to do. It's not about problems of The Games, it's just about Russia's misbehavior.
3
Maybe instead of banning the Russians in 2018, the IOC should require them to take performance degrading drugs. That would be partial compensation for years of cheating and might make the Olympics more entertaining for everybody with tripping Russians running around in all directions.
I am as anti-Russian as any man here but the focus of comments about this sports doping issue and Russian involvement is naive in the extreme. Sports doping is not new and is certainly not limited to one country. Anyone with the slightest interest can Google "doping in sports" and find that America is "up to its keester" in sports doping scandals.
1
Just to be clear, although Russia's state-sponsored, systematic, and organization-wide doping scheme was the largest and most brazen effort to cheat, Russian athletes are hardly the only ones who have taken performance-enhancing drugs, and who continue to take performance-enhancing drugs.
Because a relative of mine was an Olympian, I happen to know for a fact that plenty of American Olympic athletes have a long history of doping. The doping situation is so widespread (worldwide) among elite athletes that the Olympics is pretty much a joke. I simply refuse to spend any time watching this farce on TV anymore.
2
NYG current coach and GM are a disaster Their offense has been an open playbook for five years. They have not even had a semblance of a running game over that period of time. They seem to have a congenital disconnect between balance of running and passing and the health and longevity of their offensive line. Instead they’d rather make spectacles of such hyped talents as Salsa Guy and Supercuts. NYG have been in free fall for five years. Their velocity just accelerated.
I wouldn't advise anyone out there to hold his or her breath waiting for the I.O.C. to forego the greater revenue from an Olympics that would include the Russians.
Unless, of course, they were practitioners of the art of oxygen blood doping.
1
Just watch "Icarus" on Netflix. I saw this months ago and I'm surprised that Mr. Rodchenkov is still among the living.
He wasn't an angel but I think the level of corruption and cheating finally got to him.
Although I love watching, I cannot take the Olympics seriously as "amateur" sports. But that started with the "Dream Team" and the doping is just the frosting on that cake of fantasy.
1
who really cares? too much taxpayer money is spent on sports in the USA anyway. if sports are so important then let the industry pay for all of it, including sports complexes and all the money spent for college coaches and administrators. the olympics seemingly is just another example of organized crime. it is a shame that our young people who are very dedicated and talented have to put up with all the abuse by adults.
What's the fuss all about? The way this country is going, it will become like Russia very soon, a kleptocracy. If the criminal GOP and Trump are not ousted in 2018 and 2020, get ready for the new Democratic Republic of the United States.
Do Americans really care? Let's see at the next election if they do or not.
2
What I'd like to know how Mr. Rodchenkov's defection and escape to the US took place. Who organised/arranged it and who timed it to coincide with all other American moves to 'punish' Russia? And last, but not least how much was he paid for his 'whistle-blowing'? Was it a pay-back for Snowden?
Don't you find it curious, that among all the allegations of corruption, over-the-top cost et al surrounding the Sochi Olympics, that dresw glowing praise from the IOC and all affiliate bodies, the entire doping story only broke years after? And Mr.Rodchenkov is the one and only witness?
1
The thing is, Putin is angry and embarrassed that Russia is a second-rate world power, so he's done and will do anything to change that perception. He is KGB, through and through, always remember that.
Of course they cheated, most likely always have. It's a shame for their athletes, if there are any, who truly have talent and who have not cheated. Putin needs to be slapped down and banning Russia from the Olympics is essential.
Putin and trump are peas in a pod, rotten peas but nonetheless; it is why they are " bros"-- two despicable characters, one of whom wants to raise his country's perceived stature in the world and the other who doesn't care about tearing his down, or is too mentally ill to know the difference. Both by hook or crook, as the saying goes. Guess which is which.
4
"....the hundreds of ounces of clean urine that top athletes had for months collected in baby food jars and old soda bottles...."(c)
So Russian top athletes can't afford regular plastic cans for collecting analysis, which are sold in every drug store and cost approx. USD 0.1?
And where in this case passages about bears with balalaikas on streets, drinking vodka from samovars?
1
Are any of the Medals they cheated to get being returned???
1
Steroids have been around since the 50's and they work. Blood doping has a history from the 60's, drug based from the 90's, and it works too. There's no end of ways people are going to try to find to dope with these drugs, and next they're going to morph to gene based doping. Because doping works and because there's no end of attempts to abuse and cheat, let's dedicate ourselves anew to stopping the dopers and their diseases. Sport is supposed to be about health, not this doped disease ridden perversion.
1
What does winning by cheating feel like for these Russian athletes who train so hard to compete against athletes from all over the world? Why is winning by any means necessary become so important to an athlete, the coaches, a government? When a government becomes involved in a conspiracy to cheat in an athletic contest, I must assume that the sport has become proxy for international politics and prestige, emanating from a nation's profound sense of inferiority on the international stage. This kind of compulsion to cheat is the same as political leaders who are compelled to lie and con people into believing a fake reality.
I feel sorry for the athletes. They have been robbed of challenges that could only help them grow, both as athletes and people. Losing is instructive and the proper path for developing superior, committed competitors. Cheaters and liars will always and ultimately be exposed.
4
The Russian authorities cheat and lie. What else is new?
3
Right is right, wrong is wrong. Their should be no partisan "get out of jail free" card. I hate it when Democrats act abhorrently, but that does not change what they've done. Republican, Democrats, Libertarians: you do the crime you do the time, or the walk of shame. trump and his minion, well we just expect the worst.
Still the evil empire. Corrupt to the core with long reaching devilish tentacles reaching all the way into our great nation.
2
Money + sports = corruption.
1
I'm sure the ever above-board IOC is shocked...SHOCKED to learn doping is going on in there.
3
Everyone check out “Icarus” on Netflix. Truly fascinating, the degree to which Russia engaged their old states apparatuses (FSB) to cheat at the olympics.
2
Add this brazen cheating in international sports to their "no, not us" no-badged uniforms intervention in the Crimea (compare their smirking denials in both cases) and the widely viewed internet video documenting prime minister Medelev's accumulation of wealth and what is the bottom line? Putin's approval rating in Russia is almost as high as POTUS's is with Republicans.
1
It’s a shame, because Russian athletes are some of the best in the world, with excellent training and determination- they should not have felt that they needed to do this.
1
Unless the Russian Sports Ministry, the IOC, and WADA are all sanctioned and revamped for allowing this to go on under their noses, the punishment will fail to address the much larger doping problems that go well-beyond Russia. Throwing almost every Russian athlete under the bus is neither fair nor wise. We as Americans like to brag that free market ingenuity is always superior to government controlled efforts, so why do you suppose it is different with drug cheating? The most prominent examples are cycling, baseball, and football where state-sponsored efforts play no substantial role, yet the cheating was and probably continues to be rampant and mostly effective.
4
This is exactly what you get when mixing sports with politics.
I feel that the athletes should be able to compete as Neutrals. Let them as individuals have the honor to rightfully claim what they have worked and trained so hard for. No Russian anthem or Russian flags for it is not a victory for “Russia”
If Putin really cares for the athletes he should not boycott the Olympic Games as he will only be punishing the athletes. Unfortunately I think his ego will not allow him for being so rational.
It seems quaint now but as competitors in the 1964 games, we lived down the hall from the US weight lifting team. We were in university and it was our first international competition. We wandered down to the lifters rooms and noticed dozens of pill bottles lying about. One of them filled a teacup with various pills and bolted it down. 'Want some?'
'Sure', we said. We had no clue what was it those pills; probably herbal supplements but who knew.
Russia seems to have a strange inferiority complex. As a compensation, it tries to inflate its importance and achievements at every opportunity. Sadly, it often backfires and has the opposite effect. No other nation puts so much effort into its self image.
3
If you haven't had the chance, watch Icarus, an amazing by-the-minute, (as the story unfolds before your eyes), documentary about this Russian doping scandal produced by Impact Partners, Dan Cogan et al. It is an extraordinary feat of reporting and intrigue, portraying exactly what this article describes.
A must watch!
The timing of Rodchenkov’s diary appearance as well as his original interview to the NYT in 2016 seems quite convenient (or calculated to have the maximum impact) if the goal is to ban Russia from the OG (Rio 2016 and Korea 2018). As the head of the anti-doping lab he claims to have designed the cocktails to give to athletes and then switched their urine samples. Ok, then suddenly he decided to blow the whistle and escape to the US. Seems like the entire case rests on the evidence supplied by a single source whose motives are not clear. How do we even know his diary was written in 2014? Why sit on this explosive evidence for so long and then release it just before the Olympics?
1
Agree fully. It was all a carefully organised and arranged sting operation, timed to coincide with other political moves PRECEDING Trump's stunning defeat of HRC.
I wonder if the Dems (under Obama still) had anything to do with it.
As for Rodchenkov's flight to the US - payback for Snowden maybe?
1
The Russians have been caught Red-Handed (pun intended).
Could there be any better evidence of their universal, cynical cheating -- with the possible exception of a videotape of the doping operation? Of course, like Trump, who is now apparently claiming that the Access Hollywood Tape was faked, Putin is claiming that the voluminous evidence on Russian doping isn't really real.
In a just world, Russia would be banned for at least the next two Olympics. In addition, every single Russian athlete, whether they doped or not, would have their medals taken away and their records expunged from the books. There is no doubt in my mind that if the Americans had been caught cheating like this, the IOC would have taken about 15 minutes to decide to do just that.
Look, I am still fuming over what the East German cheaters did to my hero, Shirley Babashoff, who would have won 5 gold medals in swimming at the 1976 Olympics, making her the most decorated swimmer of her era. Instead, she won 1 gold and 4 silvers -- and the "records" set by Kornelia Ender and the other East German self-confessed dopers are still in the Olympic record books.
I used to be glued to the television during the Olympics. Now? Why bother, when so many athletes (including Americans, by the way) are doping.
1
Cheating...but very sophisticated cheating.
Apparently, the Russians never subscribed to the notion that it is not winning or losing but how you play the game.
Russia should be banned from the olympics. Russia's doping is inherited from their Soviet regime.
Nothing happens in Russia unless Putin okays it. Putin like Trump couldn't do anything honestly, their lives depended upon it. They deserve each other.
Each dirt bag runs his own respective swamp and each respectively thrives in them.
10
Hmmm...the last I heard was that the Russians plan to BOYCOTT the Seoul Olympics. If they do, some others might follow suit and we have the replay of the tit-for-tat boycott nonsense of 1976-1980.
Sports should never, I repeat NEVER be politicised.
1
Putin is a crook, a sleaze, and he degrades everything he touches. And apparently he touches just about everything, so I doubt we can expect Russian athletes to compete fairly without regime change.
22
There's a common Russian saying, or rather sayings : "If you're not stealing from...(include any or all of the following here:)..."the government," "your enemies," "your neighbors," "the people who work for you," "the people you work for," etc."..."then you are stealing from your family." So why is anyone surprised by such blatant and systemic cheating by the Russians, and is it any wonder that Donald "The point is, you can never be too greedy" Trump feels such kinship with Putin and all things Russian?
25
I don't know your sources, but I am a native Russian speaker who grew up in the Soviet Union and live in Russia now and I have never heard of this saying. I went and researched this now and couldn't find anything similar.
3
Dear Robert.
I'm Russian.
My English is bad but I must answer to you.
This saying I hear first time in my life. And my colleagues too.
I think that you must not say about things that you don't know.
Have a nice week.
3
Nonsense Petr and Konstanin, you are writing from Moscow where there is no state censorship, no Russians ever write anything blatantly false and deliberately misleading and plant it in the America media, and everyone always tells the truth. Little wonder you say you say you have never heard of or know nothing of a quote I have heard many times from Russians in the US. If you don't like that Russian saying, tell me how you have never heard this one either: "You will never be punished for stealing; you will only be punished for being caught stealing." I actually don't know if this Russian saying has any truth to it considering that we keep catching Russia stealing and cheating on, well, everything, and yet Russia (and the Russians responsible) are never punished by America, rather they are defended and rewarded by Trump.
Well folks! 50 billion dollars of PR down the drain for the Russian people. I believe the previous Vancouver games cost about 6 billion. Does Putin care? Not at all. He only plays for his home market. How truly sad for the Russian people to be so badly led and so discredited. Russia is now the world's pariah, whether they deny it or not. The rest of the world deserve better than this.
11
Sure, Chuckie. Because Lance Armstrong and all the other American athletes never, ever cheated. If you say so.
1
There is startling credible evidence that Russia cheated at the Winter Olympics and once again, Putin and company are flatly denying their involvement.
Putin has also flatly denied involvement with meddling in our presidential election after much concrete evidence was revealed.
And we have Trump's acceptance of Putin: "Every time he sees me he says I didn’t do that and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it."
22
The 'startling evidence' is one single defectors' own admission. Even McLaren says so (that there were no other witnesses to corroborate Rodchenkov's account, so he chose to consider his account, as 'credible')
1
A Modest Proposal -- To return the modern Olympic Games to their original concept (honest athletic competition with respect for athletes of all nations) let us do the following:
1. Establish one venue for the summer games (Crete) and one for the winter games (Norway). All participating nations would contribute funds to erect and maintain these permanent venues.
2. A unified scientific team would use the latest available technology to screen all athletes for doping at the time of competition, perhaps with multiple tests throughout the games.
3. Any athlete that tested positive for doping (with up to 2 follow up verification tests) would be permanently barred from all future Olympic competition.
4. Any nation with 3 or more cases of doping in a summer or winter games would be barred for 20 years.
5. All "bidding wars" for future Olympics would end.
No bargaining. No exceptions. No appeals. Just the grandeur of honest, passionate competition.
69
I think you are on the right track but it would make the Games more accessible if they were dis-aggregated into a small number of venues and kept there for, say, 3 cycles, each venue to be awarded an appropriate subset of events. No kayak races in Egypt. The advantages would be more time to amortize the investment in facilities, more time to work out kinks in the management issues, greater exposure to smaller venues that could not afford to underwrite the whole menu, and hopefully a bit less extravagance.
Indeed no more putrid air and water as well as helping the originators of these
games! The Aegean is clean and the air is pure -- bring the games back where
they belong!
Totally agree. But never happen. The money, after all...
Once again the powder with scratches? "He held up a small vial of white powder-fake poison". If there is no real evidence, even a literary mixture will come in handy.
5
i don't believe the committee will ban Russia from the games, they'll act kind of in the way the pope has acted with Burma- don't offend either side. Maybe Putin will pull out his check book and bribe most of the officials and get a clean slate. He's a cunning fellow and the Olympics has always been about money anyway. I'll be waiting to hear from the Russian trolls posting here using fake acccounts. Bring 'em on!!!
5
Apparently Russia is a country without any moral compass. Whatever is good for Russia is good, period. They cheat at sports (doping) and they cheat at other countries' elections. I'm sure not all Russians are guilty, but as a country, we should all avoid contact with them!
10
In all of its history, Russia (pick any size you wish, from the Gran Duchy of Moscow all the way up) has NEVER had -
- a chance for the common people to confidently choose their leaders -
- a viable, inescapable justice system -
- absolute property rights.
It's easy enough for people to decide to revolt, but for the leaders of a revolt to then decide to protect the commoners' inviolate rights in a Constitution is apparently a once-per-species event.
Hi Lisa, can you Google the name "Lance Armstrong?" You will learn what country he was from. You will understand better that country's elaborate doping scheme that scores of people knew about during his long career. I would like you to think about your statement "Russia is a country without any moral compass" and understand there are other countries with those same ethical dilemmas.
3
Cut out the Russians from the Winter Olympics? It will never happen. With the Russian competition gone, no one will tune in. Businesses will not profit. The money grubbing IOC will lose money. Anyways, Trump with his Russian handlers will never allow it.
4
I am going to Korea for the Olympics.
And it's a shame Russia will not be there, of course, it's all done in by themselves. I will especially miss Ovechkin.
Just a plug for these olympics - tickets are still readily available for all events.
Hopefully, the Olympics like FIFA will one day go back to being what they were - symbols of integrity and global sportsmanship.
Though I am not counting on it.
2
US afraid that there will be no 1st overall medal place for them, so they acting for money reason.They paying Ovechkin and other russian a lot of money cause they got a lot of money from TV and sponsors to show them.
Our athlets takes a lot of World championships over the world, there are local doping labs, and no russian athlet was found in a doping scandal this year. So what do you think about it? Whay is Rodchenkov afraid to talk publicly, and being at FBI defence and changed his surname? Don't you think if FSB wanted to kidnap him - they would do so much earlier.
Gains in athletic performance have been so laughably small (100m sprint improved by about 1 second in 100 years) that sports pales when compared to most other human achievements — think: less than that ago we did not have antibiotics or even know much about disease. Sports is just entertainment.
So why make this yet another lightening rod for starting or fueling yet another war or even just enmity? We have far more important matters to deal with and already enough maniacs trying to annihilate humanity and destroy the earth.
Great journalism NYT, congratulations. Now onto more important issues. Anything new on renewable / non-polluting energy today?
5
Breaking records is a small part of what makes these contests so thrilling to watch. It's about admiring an athlete's ability to perform with grace and perfection under tremendous pressure. I never tire watching figure skaters pull off complicated footwork alongside incredible triple salchows! Or skiers race downhill. Just like I never tire hearing a pianist attempt a Chopin Nocturne or watching dancers tango. I'd like to think that these athletes, musicians, artists enjoy developing their skills to become the best at what they do. To rig competitions deprives us all of meaning and integrity and helps create maniacs who try to annihilate humanity and destroy the earth.
This whole Olympics doping thing has been going on for decades. Remember when the entire East German women's swim team looked like dolphins? Maybe you're too young. This is not some new 'lightening rod' thing, this is a decades old, ongoing, epic saga.
The Olympics is big business with a heavy dollop of nationalism, therefore it is a big deal. You may not think so, but it is.
Of course, I remember all that, I've been watching the Olympics for decades. And of course I'm fully aware of the extent of doping and cheating that goes on, most which gets exposed eventually. So should I just stop enjoying these contests because of cheaters? Should I stop reading books because some authors plagiarize? Should I stop watching films because the awards are rigged? Those who follow these athletes and these contests are familiar with the form and standards required to compete and to win and also the extensive training needed to get to this level. The irony is that those who have cheated have trained just as hard as those who have not and possibly could have won by their own abilities. We should be grateful that the cheaters continue to be exposed so that future competitors in any area can look forward to developing & demonstrating their skills.
Unfortunately, this is not just a Russian phenomenon. probably 50% of all athletes in some ways cheat, even in US. How did Armstrong went on cheating for his entire career and wasn't caught?
11
There was his clean doping results for 10 years, haha..And US now talking that Russian government covers doping system..haha...look at your government..
Putin: "We did not cheat in Sochi and we did not interfere in the US election."
Trump: "He said he didn't do it."
And their you have it folks, our President is ignoring the evidence and taking the word of a former KGB Officer. Of course this is also the person who said "I'm a really smart guy."
17
After all these years, Moscow and Washington are escalating actions and reactions, moving toward war "Guns of August"mindlessly. Horrifying to watch. Putin is the one who is nuts. Not DJT, not Kim, not Xi. Moscow should not have remained relevant post Berlin Wall. The military managers seen with Putin do not look anything like the Cold War professionals or our current well selected, highly educated, and deeply experienced chiefs. I doubt Putin's actual emotional stability and his generals capacity. Danger, danger; Warning, warning.
Are you a doctor or something?
I remember then Berlin wall collapsed. There was no products in a stores, no money to buy them, and you told us that NATO never will go to the East european countries..So what are we see now? NATO border is near Russian border.
Syria' operation showed that our weapon is better than yours. Are you just afraid of us? We are don't attack first. Do you know how many countries has you military bases now? What are your soldiers doing there?
Putin denies denies denies - sounds like another leader of a great nation I know.
10
I do not understand,why Dr.Rodchenkov kept a diary of doping,it does not make sense.Do criminals keep diaries of their illegal activities?Dr. Rodchenkov is a smart guy,why did he establish his guilt in recording his alleged doping of russian sportmen?A better explanation is the diary a creation of Dr.Rodchenkov imagination.
4
Because of the written diary Dr. Rodchenkov kept contemporaneously with his illicit work, he possessed a unimpeachable piece of evidence to present to investigators should the need arise. He understood that should the operation be exposed, all would be blamed on the lowest foot soldier(him). I believe the good doctor saw the writing on the wall and protected himself as best he could. That book is what got him into secret, protective custody in the US and kept him from dying from a "heart attack" while sitting in his car on a Moscow street.
2
There are endless examples of criminals including serial murderers and professional thieves keeping detailed records of their crimes. Maybe consult google before espousing uninformed speculations?
Some people just do that. Remember, he considered himself a scientist. Keeping the best notes possible is how a scientist recovers from a wrong guess or a lab accident. Cf, Will Smith's Dr. Robert Neville in ''I Am Legend.''
Ok, but you would read my diary. There are also meetings with Master Yoda, and with Stalin, a full mince))
4
The Olympic movement is a sad joke. It has been subverted by charlatans and scammers. Please let it end now. Actual athletes will understand and applaud such a decision!
7
Kick the bums out. It's unfortunate that some innocent athletes will be hurt by Russia being forced out, but there's much more at stake. Fairness in the event is already questioned enough and letting them stay destroys credibility. They never should have had Sochi or the World Cup. If the international community lets them continue to get what they want Ukraine won't be the only invaded country.
12
Modern Olympics has become a commercialized propaganda money machine, favored by corrupted Olympic officials and dictators. Time to disband and regroup.
31
Will Trump sell this guy out to the Russians?
6
There is precedent for the legal team working for Mr. Mueller to jail perfectly innocent people until they agree to say in court whatever the attorney showed them, so the party designations would have to switch to see that happen now.
Mueller's biggest case ever was reversed 9-0 by SCOTUS. But Mueller's attack on a company resulted in 62,000 people losing their jobs (at Arthur Andersen.) The crew working under Mueller are some great examples of what never to do in the law.
What? You say you haven't seen any of this HERE? Of course not. Not at Pravda.
5
@L'osservatore: ACE!
The IOC will not subject Russia to any real serious penalties because of the doping. It all boils down to money, and the IOC will always let that be the first priority.
7
Let the Russians compete but segregate the results. No medals. It would be interesting to see as an experiment. Any other athlete that dopes can join the Russians in the "unofficial division" either voluntarily or as they are caught. The most pressing question would be whether anyone cares and if any sponsors and fans choose to support the dark side. Why not let the people choose?
2
The Olympics has so many things wrong with it. Nations borrow huge amounts of money to build facilities that will be used for a few weeks and that will then be useless eyesores and a financial burden on citizens. Which city chosen to host the games involves bribery. Athletes from many nations hide the use of drugs in all sorts of ways. "Amateur" athletes are a thing of the past except in sports where there is zero money to be made.
This Russian cheating stuff is simply one instance of a sad corruption taking hold everywhere.
19
No offence guys but can you publish the pages Feb 1 and Feb 3. With the record 'he had handed Mr. Mutko a copy of the “Duchess list,” ' and FSS stuff. Nothing cited quoted point to any suspicious.
I actually feel bad for the talented and honest athletes of Russia who, through no fault of their own, will have either a tarnished achievement history, or simply have their names stripped from the books. We must be relentless in fixing this problem, and I don't excuse the Russian athletes who are complicent, but let's not pretend this isn't forced on some of them.
45
They have also been raised to believe that absolutely everyone from every country is doing it, and that they are victims of the US world wide propaganda machine that aims only to enhance its reputation by destroying other's. This is, of course, exactly what Putin's propaganda machine does.
Putin totally denies it. Roy Moore totally denies it. What's all the fuss about?
51
If you don't admit it, it's not true.
7
I agree.
1
Kinda like Clinton & Monica Lewinsky: "I never had sex with that woman!"
Of course, if liberal Democrats do it, it's A-OK.
Well this explains, perhaps, why Alex Ovechkin gave up on playing for Russia after threatening to quit the Caps if necessary. His best bud Putin must have given him the down low. How to explain Ovi’s PutinTeam social media campaign is a whole other story.
3
Don't let the reduced international stature hit your bare torso on the way out, Putin.
Care to respond to the evidence, David from Brisbane? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/sports/olympics/russia-doping-winter-...
1
Remember when they used not let people leave Russia? Good times. Who knew Russians could be so sleazy? Oh, that’s right — everybody.
10
The Olympics have become an obscene perversion of the celebration of sports and sportsmanship they were supposed to be. Enough already, let them die.
18
The Russians are ruthless, amoral and will say and do anything to prevail. That's why Trump thinks so highly of them.
37
Please remember it is (justifiably) what the average Russian says about "The Americans". It's our 'leaders' who are the problem.
1
So nice to hear such things about the whole nation because of some dirty politics. You know, I can do the same way: The Americans are well educated. That's why Trump elected here.
Icarus, Netflix, is the real deal of this chemist life and love.
5
Smart guy using pen and paper instead of a computer. Nothing is totally secure or safe if it is digital.
7
The documentary Icarus covers this scandal at the time it was actually occurring and is totally engrossing viewing. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about this.
9
I wish I could simply believe that the Olympics no long matter, but I know a number of talented young athletes working hard to go to these games. They are honest and playing in a team sport where doping will not help all that much, but in so many cases it does and so many hearts are broken over such cheating.
2
And that’s all they are...games.
3
I still want to know the method devised by the Russians for opening the supposedly tamper-proof urine bottles. It's a technical detail, but an interesting one nonetheless.
7
It's a state secret...
The Olympics have outlived their usefulness. They have been completely corrupted by money, drugs, and politics into an over-priced, over-hyped, over-wrought spectacle whose message is essentially that greed is good and winning at any cost is the goal to which we should all aspire. Nothing lasts forever and it may be time to lower the final curtain on these "games."
42
And this is the country with the president that our president is so enamored with. Is there anything that Putin (the Russians) won't do? Is there any transgression of their's that Trump won't deny or excuse? Is there any limit to his gullibility?
Thankfully, the IOC is not under our president's control and they are free to met out an appropriate punishment.
5
You do realize all this occurred long before Trump? Under Obama?
This doesn't even cover bribing judges, which I'm sure they did. See, e.g., women's 2014 figure skating.
17
Not just the Russians and not just this year. All serious competitors use dope in sports where it will help, and have done so for a century.
The only honest Olympics are no Olympics. Cancel them, permanently.
12
One has to wonder, when the doped Russian lost to an American........what are the odds we were perfectly clean? Doesn't justify it but we do need to wonder.
3
Lance Armstrong.
1
Here we go getting all caught with details like evidence, It would be so much simpler to just ask them, several times of course, if they cheated, and see what they say.
Like trumps response to the election meddling, can't we just take them at their word?
Trumpsky has already told us how trustworthy Putin is.
7
Is it now part of the Russian National Character to lie, cheat, steal, manipulate, and murder whenever a Russian thinks he or she can avoid punishment for such transgressions? Clearly, "lawless" must rise to the top of everyone's list when describing Russian international activity.
6
You should look at yourself in the mirror more often as a reminder when Native Americans were manipulated, cheated, and wiped off from their own lands.
1
Well then, shall we roll back history and look at the atrocities perpetrated by Czarist Russia against their own peasant populations? Your comment is yet another deflection that has become all too common in today's public discourse
1
The only way to deal with the Russians is to completely ban them until further notice. In sport and in politics, the Russians are deceitful, malicious, and amoral. There's no point in beating around the bush and trying to place nice with them - they're not nice, they don't play by the rules, and they've never had a free and democratic society. They need to prove otherwise before they're allowed to freely compete, whether it's in sports or world affairs.
7
They did have a democratic government, very briefly, but Lenin overthrew it.
Doubtless, Russia has been, and is, a serial Olympic cheater for a very long time. Russian state organs cheat and lie on every issue with each breath it exhales. The depth and breadth of the mendacity might even make our own president blush before tweeting out some deflection blaming Hillary Clinton for some imagined misdeed.
The shame is the sham that all of this makes of the Olympic Games. What's the point of paying attention to a rigged spectacle of "sport" whose victory medals have become meaningless?
5
Of course they’re guilty. Putin learned his craft from the USSR and the KGB. Don’t even attempt the diplomatic and reasonable course on this. They’ve been lying and cheating on many fronts for decades....not just a few years, for decades.
Ban Russia permanently, period. That’s the only kind of message that Russia understands.
64
This is probably a stupid question, but would I be correct in assuming that the Russian state made money off of having winning--or at least high ranking--athletes at the Olympics? I really have no idea how that world works, but I can't see anything other than money being a motivator here. Why spend money cheating if you're not going to win more in the end?
3
It's nothing so simple as filthy lucre - the real coin of the Olympics for Russian state is the prestige it lends to the Russian government. Several months of salutatory press coverage and adulation from winning most gold medals is probably worth ~10% bump in approval ratings. The billions of dollars spent on Sochi is like nothing when compared to continuance of Putin's regime - and of course it makes for a great opportunity to distribute largess to few chosen oligarchs.
4
Olympic participation is expensive, and success endows countries with bragging rights.
Just note the jingoistic score keeping which our media does.
Countries use Olympic accomplishments to demonstrate the superior quality of their people, supposedly to reflect the quality of life in their country.
4
Pride.
1
The US justice system involving itself in the FIFA 'investigation' on very shaky jurisdictional grounds and more recently, using the NYT as a bullhorn for the allegations of Rodchenkov, the penniless Russian whistle-blower chemist who is now comfortably set up in California, have the stink of the CIA to both of them -- the obvious aim is to have Russia excluded from the Winter Olympics, but the big prize is to cause Russia to lose the 2018 World Cup.
3
One can only wonder what you stand to gain in making such one-sided claims.
4
You see Chet, cheating is not OK. You may claim that "everyone" does it, but the fact remains that Russia got caught. And the scale of the Russian doping scandal is only comparable to the East Germans a few decades ago.
Trying to invent a conspiracy theory about this Olympic cheating (pun intended) is what Russian trolls do.
3
@chet380 - So you're claiming the diary is just a good fake by the CIA to hurt Russia? Hmmmm.
I didn't know Russia had a 'west coast'.
1
Will Trump come to their defense?
87
DJT would probably say,
"Who can say if they did it? Putin denied it. As a matter of fact he TOTALLY denied it!"
3
When will Trump come to their defense?
3
As a general observation, ban Russia from every international event of any sort. A country that thinks it can cheat its way to most everything deserves to be shunned entirely. South Africa practiced its hideousness inside its borders and we shunned them for the better part of 2 decades. Russia exports its monstrosity outside its borders and we do what? Nothing. Condemn them to the well of abandonment. Let them rot.
78
Having a world-class cheat as leader gives us little standing in the debate.
6
And what do you think the Chinese are up to? And do you Americans feel untouched by cheating? Really?
1
Yes really. We do not let the likes of Lance Armstrong get away with it and have a generous modicum of shame and guilt when it comes to admission of such activities including the nationwide embarrassment of having Trump in the White House. So, yeah. Really !
1
What's clear is the need of all these authoritarian regimes to win, as if it reflects on their legitimacy. State sponsored cheating winds up being the exact opposite of what they wanted. The Putins of this world just look stupid. The athletes who go along with it can never claim any medals as fairly won and the whole Olympic program dissolves into meaninglessness.
Frankly, they ought to get rid of every aspect of nationalism at the Olympic games. Like everything else, though, there's too much money at stake.
(Ref: FIFA. Everyone's got their hand out on that deal.)
19
How anyone could have anything to do with either the Olympics or Fifa is beyond me. Why not watch the Mafia at work? They are criminals all and the athletes know it. They are not innocents in this dirty business. Stop watching and paying and see what happens.
4
I think the IOC should indeed strip Russia of its nation's symbols. The ultimate punishment should go not against individual athletes bullied into systematized cheating or even individual sports where doping was most predominant. They are pawns. The country is to blame, and the orders came from the very top. Anyone who doubts it hasn't been paying attention. Putin murders, Putin steals billions, Putin tortures his perceived enemies. So what's a little cheating?
I would like to see Trump talk his way out of this Russian scandal. Perhaps he'll blame a couple of 400-pound chemists sitting on their beds. The U.S. presidency cannot ruin the upcoming Winter Olympics; U.S. politics can't taint them. The Olympics may be just sports, but the games are about national unity. It is our time.
19
The Olympic games are about money, nothing else and the athletes know this, or they should. Personally, I don't believe anyone should watch either the Summer or Winter games. If everyone just let it go and stopped buying the stuff the games would wither, which they should. Sorry to be a gloomy gus but some things just seem obvious to me.
4
I'm sorry you feel the games are just "about money, nothing else matters and the athletes know this, or they should." I know you're not alone in this view. But most athletes work their hearts out, and that's just as real as doping. The grace, beauty and athleticism are real, no less than money. Yes, individuals in certain countries cheat, and in certain sports it is more predominant than normal. I won't let this spoil my overall enjoyment, though. Since Americans are experiencing such bitter divisions in politics and government, we have to have other activities that stir national pride and unity. I've never been outwardly patriotic but I still wouldn't live anywhere else, and I've tried. I'm in no way a "love-it-or-leave-it" American. I'm not naive, I'm just hanging on to a slice of hope.
1
It is worth noting that Russia did not achieve its Sochi goal: It did not win the most medals at the home Games it cooked. Rodchenkov may now be protected by Americans but he is no whistle-blower. When his country didn't win, he knew his job and life were in jeopardy, so he fled to the country where the value of his self-incriminating account would provide security. His journals make clear he was a petty nobody who crowed about eating from his boss's plate.
Then there's the matter of Putin's involvement. Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was oft quoted saying that a leaf didn't drop from a tree in his country without him knowing about it. Putin knows the name of each leaf, on which branch it resides and with whom it associates -- while still attached to the tree.
I believe the IOC wanted the Times to see the outrageous diaries in an effort to drum up public support for the decision it is about to announce. That fills me with hope of either an outright ban or the stripping off Russia's national symbols in South Korea. It must be sweeping. Let's throw them our support.
23
Well, Russia did win the most medals in Sochi. That is just a matter of historical record which anyone could easily check. But I guess when it comes to Russia anything goes nowadays.
3
THe only thing that makes sense is total complete expulsion of Russia from IOC so they can never compete in Olympics again.
9
You know what is supremely ironic about this whole Russian doping and cheating mess cooked up by Vladimir Putin and his henchmen in the Russian Ministry of Sport and the FSB is that the whole thing was about making Russia look "Good" in the eyes of the World. Vladimir Putin rapaciously hungered for International respect for himself and Russia. He wanted to whole World to think that Russia was 'Back' as a Power in the World that mattered, an economically rising star and a force to be reckoned with in Sports as well as Economics and Geopolitics and yet after spending $50 Billion Dollars on the Sochi Winter Olympics, the most expensive Olympics ever what in fact does Vladimir Putin and Russia have to SHOW for all this money and effort?
Absolutely NOTHING.
Instead of being viewed as a up and coming political, economic and sporting power, Russia is viewed today as a Pathetic loser. A country that cannot be trusted to adhere to International laws and standards.
It cant EVEN be trusted to compete fairly in International Sports. So what was it all for one might ask themselves? What was that $50 Billion spent on the Sochi Olympics that are now derisively called the "Doping Olympics" all for? I wonder if there is anybody in Russia who is asking themselves that very question. I wonder what the answer is.
69
I think we can take Putin's word on this. He's an honest one, just like Trump.
14
In May 2016 this paper interviewed Rodchenkov, reporting "Dr. Rodchenkov laid out the details of the operation over three days of interviews that were arranged by an American filmmaker, Bryan Fogel, who is working on a documentary that involves Dr. Rodchenkov."
Rodchenkov is now living under protection in the U.S. All of a sudden he has these carefully written diaries. Something smells false to me. Can these diaries be carbon dated? Truth is so hard to find these days.
4
Hard but not impossible. The Russian government just continued its long-term commitment tocheat if it brought athletic success. I would have been surprised if tgeydid not cheat.
1
Putin directed and is intimately involved in this scandal. He is and always has been KGB and ruthless to the core. I don't even trust him dealing with South Korea.
29
Russia should be banned from the Olympics, Trade, and the internet.
5
What a year for investigative journalism!!!
That should be the “Person” of this year.
51
What a fabulous idea! Something most people today have forgotten but which is so, so, so, so, so important. Of course your president would hate this which makes it even more wonderful. Oh, Time Magazine, please do this I beg you! Oh, sorry I guess the Koch brothers wouldn't go for it. Too bad. I know they said they won't be involved but who believes liars?
2
I wouldn't mind it if we skipped at least a couple of rounds of the Olympics completely. It's going to be particularly nerve-wracking with the winter Olympics being held in South Korea—just across the border from You-Know-Who. The amount of money and anxiety invested in that production is going to be astronomical.
8
The punishment? Russian Paralympics athletes are banned from competing.
In fact, it's a disgrace the 2018 World Cup will be hosted by Russia, and that Russia hosted the 2014 Winter Games, as it planned its invasion of Ukraine and its support for Al-Assad's genocide in Syria.
FIFA's even dirtier than the IOC (if that's possible).
31
If we are serious about punishing Russia we need to wipe them from view completely; the first amendment does not extend to enemy combatants.
Suspend their access to Twitter, Google and Facebook. Turn off the camera, the microphone and the lights. Take away their ability to be seen or heard. Start by moving or cancelling the FIFA world cup.
13
Just remember that Putin is a former KGB agent. What he did then he would have no compunction about doing again.
40
We should treat Russia for what it is - not for what it claims to be. It is not a viable country but rather it is one gigantic criminal enterprise. If Russia were a corporation it, along with all of it's senior management would have been indicted, and had it's assets seized. Listen to Preet Bharara's podcast "The Death of Sergei Magnitsky" and see if you don't agree.
50
I agree Tony. Russia is a country that cannot be trusted. They don't follow international rules, they use hackers to disrupt elections and businesses, and they encourage or force their athletes to cheat. The international community should shun them.
Not my idea of a proper martini, but each to his own taste.
3
When they let the Professional Basketball Players compete against high school kids from Cameron, I said, "Enough". I might get interested in the Olympics when they come to Los Angeles in 2028, until then, I'm sitting them all out.
8
Ten years I was cycling around Central Park with an MD who had just returned from a conference. He told me he addressed a group of about 350 young athletes, and asked for a show of hands to the following question: " If I gave you a drug that would guarantee you would win every event you entered for the next five years, and then you would die as a result, would you take it?" Every person in the room raised their hand.
This is the problem, the win at all cost mentality, the overriding desire to be first. Sport mirrors life.
36
Thanks for that story. Many, damming Russia here, do not understand how much world-wide sports have been compromised by drugs. It has smeared the reputation of many countries, including America (does anyone remember the name Lance Armstrong?) and the continuing search for drugs to enhance performance and avoid detection is everywhere. The old joke that "Those with the best pharmacist win!" has not changed much in the last few decades. Around America, professional baseball teams, for example, are certainly not tested for drugs. Nobody wants to know.
1
Jd: that does not surprise me, but it is betrayal of the Olympic spirit and ideals. The Olympics is about giving your best, highest level performance. It is not solely about winning, and when it became about winning, medals, "who got the most", endorsement deals and the like....it lost its soul.
Error: the article talks about Olympic "Games".
I know about the medal wars, politics in points counting methods, nationalist symbols, fashion show elements, corporate logos, semi-pro and fully-pro athletes and teams, the support most nations slip to team members so the athletes don't need to work, and the huge amounts of family investment in equine and skating training, among other sports.
But where are the "games"? Fun, joy? Classical Greek amateur atmosphere?
But then, where is the old Greek Olympic spirit when even war stopped for almost every competition, and the human body, unadorned by political allegiance, chemicals or even clothing, was celebrated, along with the ideal of personal endurance and heart? Correction: Modern Pseudo Olympics Pseudo-Games.
6
Even a 'Doping Olympics' officially intended to give practitioners of the dark arts a venue for displaying (competitors start with points and have them removed for detection) would end up corrupted. There's nothing rational about sporting competition and when combined with the irrationality of nationalism we end up with an amazingly powerful cocktail of incentives to cheat. OCD meets jingoism; what could go wrong?
2
I am really hoping something like this shows up in Mueller's investigation.
8
I feel the Olympics, both summer and winter, have been "dirty" for a long time. The "best by" date is over. Time to get rid of both. If it can't be clean, by everyone, quit the darned thing.
25
I’m 67, and the older I get the sillier the Olympics seem to me. Indeed, more than silly, I think they’re damaging to the global community.
Contrary to the claim that they contribute to international cooperation, they actually do the exact opposite: they foster and amplify divisions between nations. They're almost entirely political
I think everyone should boycott them.
41
Thank you Deirdre for showing common sense, which seems lacking in talk of these idiotic games. I boycott them but I don't think they notice.
4
I wonder if Rodchenkov feels as safe living in hiding under protection from American authorities during the Trump presidency as he did when Obama was president. Considering Trump’s unflagging desire to curry favor with Putin, if I were Mr. Rodchenkov, I think I’d ask for asylum somewhere else.
44
Russia is run by a criminal who never hesitates - or his power would weaken - to eliminate any opposition to his plans and actions. Russia NEVER should have been awarded the 2018 World Cup and it is an absolute disgrace for football associations of other countries to happily endorse the blatant and unrepentant Russian malfeasance by attending the World Cup party there in June.
Awarding the 2022 World Cup tournament to Qatar also is corrupt and possibly will be derailed by intensifying Saudi - Iranian conflict in the next four years.
11
It's a sad fact that major institutions with the potential to bring out the best in people - besides the Olympics, the Internet comes to mind - inevitably get co-opted by huge, powerful forces that turn them into machines for generating financial gain. I wonder, though, In the case of the Olympics, what is the concrete, quantifiable return that the Russians can count on when they invest so heavily (and clandestinely) in bringing home bushels of medals?
Here in the U.S., there is an above-board but still gargantuan investment in developing super athletes. In our case is it solely for national pride?
"...a key issue for Olympic officials: the state’s involvement in the massive sports fraud."
The Olympic officials should handle Putin's Russia in the same way the U.S. handled Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. Apply the severest sanctions coupled with thorough inspections by the most skilled international inspectors. Sanctions can be relaxed after a few Olympic competitions. And then, perhaps after Putin leaves the world scene, Russia could be treated more like the other nations that participate in the Olympics.
3
State sponsored cheating for years, a permanent ban from the Olympics is more in line and would send the right message.
2
As a child of the '60s and '70s, I revered the Olympics of that era for what they still were: a great spectacle of amateur sports, presented under a banner of worldwide fellowship.
I've not watched the Olympics since the '80s, at which time they had turned into a shameful reality show of big business and big crime.
6
I totally believe and moreover, expected this. Also, if one team/country is doing this,you can bet your bottom dollar many others are as well.
That is how something like this works: rules were made to be broken, and unfortunately, I would bet my bottom dollar other teams in the usual large countries are doing so as well.
Look at MLB. Although "steroids" were illegal (and very dangerous), there is always going to be a way around it. One way or another, it occurs with far too much frequency.
Players were taking HGH (human growth hormone). Additionally, many routinely took speed (amphetamines) for years and years, and I am not referring to the 1950's or 1960's; I mean presently.
This is one of the most dangerous drugs on the planet, for (like alcohol, which is promoted), the simple reason is both destroy your liver. Even opiates are not as bad as amphetamines; ask any doctor who specializes in addiction.
As long as the drugs are out there and becoming banned, new ones (which are not illegal yet) replace them.
It is simple economics: the laws of supply and demand.
2
An outright ban should be imposed with penalties as well as all medals returned.
85
Wow. If this doesn't call for an outright ban, I don't know what does. I wonder if the Russian soccer team is also part of this. Are soccer players tested? With the World Cup coming up there, I doubt if it will be pursued.
82
Ban is not good enough. It must be total expulsion from IOC.
watch the Netflix documentary that details this story beautifully. it's called icarus.
112
Thanks for the recommendation. If I didn't already have 100 things in my Netflix queue, I'd add it!
This is one of the most astounding documentaries I've ever seen. Up there with Searching for Sugarman. The entire story is there - he ran the Russian doping system from prison!
2
With all the doping, cheating, and professionals in the Olympics, the only sport I watch anymore is curling.
That's probably dirty too, however.
54
Mtnmn1963,
A good thought. BUT. when you check the records [as i did i as an avid competitive curler some time ago and someone who now teaches a law school course in sports and the law] you will find that two Russian curlers were also identified as taking drugs in Socchi. Not sure why???
It must be. Why else the constant obsession with brooms?
4
Yes, Olympic-level curling is so dirty it needs a new broom to sweep clean.
Oh well, if Putin said his government wasn't involved, I'm sure it wasn't. After all, he gave Trump his word about all the other suspicions about Russia's doings.
I hope Americans are beginning to realize that Putin IS the Russian government, and he's nothing but a crime boss. Like Trump, he's obsessed with winning because he thinks it reflects well on him. Just like the Soviets he once worked for, Putin thinks a winning team will demonstrate something about the strength of his nation. And just like it was in the Soviet years, he's got nothing but a potemkin village.
278
He is the state gov't worth over $200 billion. He takes a cut on everything.
1