Whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov has opted for a start of clean Russian athletes under neutral flag at the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang (9. till 25. February). On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide in the Russian state doping crisis whether Russia is allowed to start in South Korea.
“Innocent athletes should not be prevented from participating,”Rodchenkov told the New York Times. However, if the athletes had proven their innocence, they would have to start under a neutral flag and not under the national coat of arms, emphasized the leniency witness. No Russian emblems should be shown at the games.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had already described this option as unreasonable and called it a “humiliation of the country”. There is also a complete exclusion of the Russian team from the Winter Games, and a fine of 100 million dollars for the huge empire is also under discussion.
Russia has always denied state doping, but Rodchenkov reiterated the accusations that high Russian representatives such as former Vice Sports Minister Yuri Nagornych were involved.
Before the winter games in Sochi in 2014, he had voiced his concern about the strength of the Ukrainian women’s biathlon squadron and asked Rodchenkov to manipulate their samples in such a way that they were positive.
Rodchenkov, who had headed the doping laboratories in Moscow and Sochi before fleeing to the USA, refused.”I couldn’t have done that to an innocent athlete,”said the chemist.”During my career I declared many dirty samples clean, but never the other way around.”