Dope and dodgy deals
July 2012: Team GB finish third on the London 2012 medals table with 29 golds and 65 medals in total, the best since London 1908.
June 2015: A BBC Panorama investigation into Mo Farah’s coach, Alberto Salazar, accuses him of conducting testosterone experiments and misusing therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for asthma and thyroid medication for performanceenhancing purposes. There is no suggestion Farah has contravened rules. Salazar steps down as UKA consultant.
Aug 2016: Team GB finish second on Rio Olympic medals table, behind only the United States, with 28 golds and 67 medals in total.
Sept 2016: Russian cyber espionage group, Fancy Bear, publish documents revealing that Sir Bradley Wiggins was granted three medical exemptions for the powerful corticosteroid triamcinolone before the Tour de France in 2011 and 2012. The Team Sky rider sought it to treat his asthma. The Daily Mail reveals a mysterious medical package — the infamous Jiffy Bag — was delivered to Wiggins’ doctor at Team Sky, Richard Freeman, at a race in France in June 2011. UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) launches an investigation.
Feb 2017: Farah is revealed to have taken a legal infusion of controversial supplement L-carnitine before the 2014 London Marathon. Farah initially denies knowledge of the injection, later saying he ‘genuinely forgot’ about it. Rob Chakraverty, UKA’s chief medical officer, oversaw infusion. He failed to record the levels but tells a House of Commons Select Committee it was 13.5ml, within the permissible limit.
March 2017: UKAD find evidence that Freeman, who also worked for British Cycling, took delivery of testosterone patches in May 2011.
Nov 2017: UKAD say there is insufficient evidence that the Jiffy Bag contained a banned substance but that medical records were lost within British Cycling and Team Sky, with Freeman failing to upload records as required, claiming his laptop was stolen.
Oct 2019: Salazar is banned for four years after being found guilty of doping violations, including trafficking testosterone and breaking the rules on L-carnitine infusions. There is no suggestion Farah, who split with Salazar in 2017, broke the rules.
Feb 2020: Former British 800m runner Emma Jackson tells The Mail on Sunday that she believes her thyroid medication was mishandled by Chakraverty and caused eating disorders, overtraining and stress fractures which ended her career. Chakraverty, who was working with the England football team at the time of publication, says he always worked in athletes’ best interests.
July 2020: Gymnasts Catherine Lyons and Lisa Mason tell ITV News of mental and physical abuse in British Gymnastics’ programme. UK Sport and Sport England launch the Whyte Report to investigate allegations.
July 2020: A MoS investigation reveals British Olympians were used as guinea pigs to test an experimental substance in a secret UK Sport project before London 2012. UK Sport prepared waivers, freeing themselves of any blame if anything went wrong, and non-disclosure agreements banning athletes from talking about the energyboosting drink, which included a synthetic version of the naturallyoccurring body acid ketones.
March 2021: Freeman is found guilty of ordering banned testosterone ‘knowing or believing’ it was for an unnamed rider to improve their performance, following a Medical Practitioners Tribunal.
March 2021: The MoS reports that a trace of the banned steroid nandrolone was found in the urine of a British rider in 2010. UKAD tipped off British Cycling, who did their own testing of riders, even though it was prohibited. They concluded there was no innocent explanation for the positive result, but nothing came of it. A World Anti-Doping Agency probe concludes there was ‘potential wrongdoing’ by both organisations.
October 2021: We reveal that a leading British Olympic cyclist rode away from a doping control officer days before the start of London 2012, having been being asked for a urine sample. UKAD do not comment on the story but clarify that test paperwork from 2012 was retained for only 18 months.
June 2022: The Whyte Report details physical and emotional abuse of British gymnasts, the vast majority being female and many of them children, including excessively controlling behaviour, physical chastisement, exhaustion beyond acceptable limits, withholding food and water and manhandling.