Russian chemist apologizes to athletes
By The Associated Press
An apology for Russia’s doping scheme is now ready to be issued. Not by the state which ordered the systematic cover-up but by the chemist who helped Russian athletes trick the system.
“I am very sorry to all the clean athletes we cheated,” former Russian anti-doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkovsaid.
Similar remorse has not been forthcoming from the Russian authorities, who challenge the legitimacy of Rodchenkov’s confessions and deny any doping was state-sponsored. Rodchenkov, who fled to the United States to expose the elaborate ruse to evade doping tests, claimed the Russians are still “lyingand denying.”
Rodchenkov also berated the Court of Arbitration for Sport for overturning lifetime Olympic bans on Russians, saying the ruling gave the impression to clean competitors that “we don’t care about you.” Standing by the veracity of testimony called into question during court hearings, Rodchenkov maintained that athletes were complicit in the doping program after following “strict orders”from the state.
Rodchenkov, who lives in hiding, denied claims by Russian president Vladimir Putin that his unmasking of the scandal was being controlledby U.S. agencies.
“As usual, Putin is misinformed,” Rodchenkov said in emailed responses. “I am speaking the truth. No one is influencingme.”
Asked if he was aware of other countries running Russian-style state-sponsored schemes, Rodchenkov replied: “I certainly have suspicions, but it is hard to image any country had our level of deception and high-level support.”
More cheating talk
Othercheating concerns do not revolve around what sliders are ingesting, it’s about what they’re wearing. Some skeletonracers are expressing concerns that the speedsuits worn by British sliders are illegal, after articles written about the team in recent days suggested that certain “innovations” are likely to greatly enhance chances of medaling in Pyeongchang. Britain has wongold medals in each of the past two women’s skeleton Olympic races, and what the team wore in 2010 and 2014 was highly scrutinized by athletes from several nations — including the U.S.A. For their part, the British say the suits are legal. “I’m not a scientist,” U.S. skeleton veteran Katie Uhlaender said. “I just know that I was trying to get a suit of the same quality and I was toldthat it was illegal.”
Tinder gold
TheUnited States might be struggling at times to make it to the medal platform, but there is something in which this country is far and away the gold medalist. The app Tinder is somewhere between a dating app and a hookup app. It seems the USAis the easy leader on people trying to connect with Olympicathletes.