RUSSIAN DOPING: A TIMELINE
FEBRUARY 2014 — Russian President Vladimir Putin opens the Winter Olympics in Sochi (above). Russia tops the medal table, with nearly twice as many medals than in 2010.
DECEMBER 2014 — Allegations of corruption and systematic doping from former Russian Anti-doping Agency official Vitaly Stepanov and his wife, Yulia, an 800m runner who had been banned for doping. The Stepanovs go into hiding.
NOVEMBER 2015 — WADA declares Russia’s anti-doping agency non-compliant and shuts down the national drug-testing laboratory. The IAAF suspends the Russian track federation in a ban that remains in place today.
MAY 2016 — An investigation chaired by Canadian lawyer Richard Mclaren (above) flags hundreds of covered-up doping cases in dozens of sports.
The International Olympic Committee starts retesting old samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, eventually banning dozens of athletes from Russia and other countries.
AUGUST 2016 — Russia competes at the Olympics in Rio with a reduced squad after dozens of athletes fail vetting of their drug-test history by sports federations.
The IOC resists calls to ban Russia entirely, but the Paralympics kick Russia out. The Russian team is fourth in the Olympic medal count.
AUGUST 2017 — Russia is allowed to send a team of 19 officially neutral athletes to the world championships in London after being vetted by the IAAF.
DECEMBER 2017 — The IOC officially bans Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. However, it allows 168 Russians to compete as “Olympic Athletes from Russia.” Two Russians fail drug tests during the Games. FEBRUARY 2018 - Russia reinstated by the IOC.
SEPTEMBER 2018 — WADA reinstates the Russian anti-doping agency against opposition on condition they turn over stored data and samples from the Moscow laboratory that could implicate more athletes.
DECEMBER 2018 - Russia misses the deadline set by WADA.
JANUARY 2019 - Russia finally hands over the files.
SEPTEMBER 2019 — WADA says the lab data may have been tampered with and gives Russia three weeks to explain.
YESTERDAY — WADA votes unanimously to ban Russia from the Olympics and other major sports for four years.