WADA Report Reveals Doping Allegations Involving over 1,000 Russian Athletes

According to a new report, more than 1,000 Russian athletes were involved in an "institutional conspiracy" that included doping, specifically in relation to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Per Stephen Wilson of the Associated Press, World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren concluded in the report Friday that the Russian Sports Ministry, national anti-doping agency and FSB intelligence service were all involved in the scandal. It resulted in 15 Russian medalists getting their doping samples tampered with in Sochi.

McLaren cited "irrefutable forensic evidence" to back his conclusion.

"It is impossible to know just how deep and how far back this conspiracy goes," McLaren said, per Rebecca R. Ruiz of the New York Times. "For years, international sports competitions have unknowingly been hijacked by the Russians."

The report comes on the heels of a May article from Ruiz and Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times in which Russian anti-doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov detailed the manner in which Russian athletes' tainted urine samples were replaced with clean ones.

Rodchenkov estimated as many as 100 samples were tampered with, adding: "People are celebrating Olympic champion winners, but we are sitting crazy and replacing their urine. Can you imagine how Olympic sport is organized?"

Following an investigation, 118 Russian athletes were banned from competing at the 2016 Rio Games; 271 were cleared. Further, all Russian Paralympic athletes were banned from taking part in the Rio Paralympics.

The next Winter Olympics will take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.

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