‘99% OF RUSSIANS ARE DRUG CHEATS LIKE ME’

THE extraordinary claim that 99 per cent of Russian Olympic athletes are taking performance-enhancing drugs was just enough to wake anti-doping officials from their slumber yesterday. Allegations of systematic abuse on a scale comparable to the old Eastern Bloc were made in a German TV documentary. Former discus thrower Yevgeniya Pecherina claimed that ‘most... the majority... 99 per cent’ of Russian athletes take banned substances. ‘You can get absolutely everything,’ said the 25-year-old, who is serving a 10-year doping ban. The programme also broadcast footage seemingly showing the 800metres gold medallist from the London Olympics, Mariya Savinova, admitting to have taken the illegal steroid oxandrolone. Liliya Shobukhova, the 2010 London Marathon winner and now banned for irregularities in her biological passport, claimed she paid the Russian Athletics Federation £350,000 to cover up a failed test. Even more alarming are claims that Russian athletics officials supplied drugs in exchange for a slice of an athlete’s earnings. Britain’s Dai Greene, who competed in the 400m hurdles at the World Championships in Moscow last year, posted on Twitter: ‘This is no surprise to any athletes. We know when we see suspect performances. Is enough being done to stop it?’ The World Anti-Doping Agency — once dubbed the Weak and Defenceless Agency — last night issued a statement that amounted to little more than a sigh, saying: ‘WADA will ensure that all matters raised are fully investigated.’