A tradition of gold, silver and doping

through treaties and other international agreements, many of which came from the Cold War, Russia is always pushing and testing and this fits within the pattern of paranoia against the rest of the world.”

Afterthe Russians helped theWest defeat Fascism in WorldWar II, the internationalcommunity welcomed themacross a spectrum of platforms,including the Olympics.They declined in 1948,reportedly because Stalinwanted some guarantee of victoriesthe Russian sports authorities couldn’t deliver, butentered the games officially in 1952. By the time Russianshosted the Sochi Gamesfour years ago, they were— to quote Rodchenkov inthe “Icarus” film, “Toplevelcheaters. We were fully equipped,knowledgeable, experienced,and perfectly preparedfor Sochi like never before.It was working like a Swisswatch.”

Rodchenkov further told the filmmakers, the WADA, and the New York Times that he was not only responsible for developing the three-steroid cocktail that helped the Russians to 33 medals including 13 golds (including four of the 13 to be stripped), but he operated out of a dimly lit storage area next to the official urine room, into which he passed clean urine samples through a hole to replace those taken in drug testing.

Two of Rodchenkov’s colleagues in Russia later turned up dead under suspicious circumstances. One was writing a book.

As Rodchenkov told “Icarus” director Bryan Fogel in the film, “It’s not safe to write book in Russia.”