Exclusive: ARD Documentary exposes Doping and Cover-up System in Russia / Active Athletes, Coaches and Insiders come clean

Cologne (ots) - With a degree of clarity previously never seen,
athletes, coaches and other whistleblowers have undermined the
reputation of this year's Olympic host Russia - before the camera and
with plenty of evidence. In the programme "Top-secret Doping: How
Russia makes its Winners" (Wednesday, December 3rd 18.50 - 19.50
hrs., Das Erste - First German TV Channel), several people involved
in Russian sport deliver extensive evidence about doping and massive
corruption and cover-ups. "You cannot achieve the results that you
are getting, at least in Russia, whithout doping. You must dope.
That's how it is done in Russia. The officials and coaches clearly
say by using natural abbility you can only do so well. To get medals
you need help. And the help is doping, prohibited substances",
Vitaliy Stepanov told the ARD. Stepanov was an employee of the
Russian Anti- Doping Agency RUSADA for three years and even advised
the Director- General. He reports for the first time and openly
before the camera about his experiences.

His wife Yuliya Stepanova (former Yuliya Rusanova), a world-class
800-metre runner, currently suspended because of doping, accuses the
Russian sports system of only having achieved many of its successes
through large-scale fraud: "That is hammered into the coaches and the
coaches hammer it into the athletes. The athletes, therefore, do not
think when they are taking banned drugs that they are doing something
wrong".

In order to prove the allegations, Yuliya Stepanova has secretly
made numerous audio and video recordings at her own risk and made
these files available to the ARD. Thus, the recordings prove the
involvement of coaches as well as physicians in the drug procurement
system or the cover-up of positive doping tests. No one of them
responded to inquiries from the ARD.

The President of the Russian Athletics Federation, Valentin
Balakhnichev, also left questions from the ARD unanswered and in an
interview situation avoided any possible confrontation. Whereby
according to research by the ARD-Doping Editorial Group, he was
personally probably even involved in the arguably biggest corruption
case in the history of athletics. According to her own evidence in
the ARD documentary, Liliya Shobukhova, one of the world's best
marathon runners, bought herself the right to participate at the 2012
London Olympics in return for a payment of 450,000 Euros to Russian
officials, apparently to ensure that her extremely noticeable blood
levels would not been sanctioned at that time.

In a cell phone-video passed on to the ARD-Doping Editorial Group,
the 800-metre Olympic champion from London 2012, Mariya Savinova,
talks about her doping practices, for example, the taking of the
banned anabolic agent oxandrolone. Savinova did also not respond to
inquiries from the ARD.

The World Anti-Doping Agency is shocked in view of the available
concrete and circumstantial evidence. WADA Director-General David
Howman said, "Well, the combination of all is terribly shocking.
Individual components are disappointing. When you combine everything
and you look at the facts of this documentation and oft the other
things, that I have heard and seen, of course it is shocking."

Press Contact:
Uwe-Jens Lindner
WDR Press and Information
Tel.: +49 (0) 221 220 7123
uwe-jens.lindner@wdr.de