Whistlebower lab chief and Dame Katherine Grainger condemn Wada plans to allow Russia's return
Dame Katherine Grainger, Britain's most decorated female Olympian, joined the global chorus of sporting anger as the World Anti-Doping Agency looked set to abandon drug-cheat sanctions against Russia on Thursday.
Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, the whistleblower laboratory chief who helped expose systematic doping by Russian athletes, also warned it is "nothing short of a catastrophe" if Moscow agency Rusada returns to the sporting fold.
Wada's 12-strong executive committee is meeting in the Seychelles on Thursday morning to approve a compromise formula to the "roadmap to compliance" which was agreed with Russia in 2016.
Grainger's intervention is significant as she is now chair of UK Sport, the government agency that funds Olympic and Paralympic sport, a body that would usually stay out of global sports politics. In a statement, she said: "UK Sport backs UK Anti-Doping and its athlete commission in calling for the WADA executive committee to maintain WADA's current position on the reinstatement of Russia until the conditions directed by the Russia roadmap are fully and transparently met.
"What doping steals from athletes is irreplaceable and the integrity of sport and competition has to be protected to maintain public trust and support. This responsibility rests with leaders at every level." Sir Craig Reedie, the former British Olympic Association chairman, and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, are widely believed to be driving the push for Russia's rehabilitation.
Rodchenkov, now in witness protection in the US, said Rusada's return "would be a catastrophe for Olympic sport ideals, the fight against doping and the protection of clean athletes," he said. "Russian political and sport bosses are there only to save themselves, and in doing so they betray Russian athletes and sports lovers, and destroy the future of Russian sport."
His comments come after 13 countries launched a blistering attack on Rusada and the agency's second-in-command broke rank to criticise the plot.
Pressure on Wada to abandon the recommendations intensified as vice-president Linda Helleland said she would vote down the plan, while members of the agency's athlete committee said there should be "no discussion" about Russia's return.
Rusada and its athletics federation were suspended in November 2015, but the scandal widened when a second investigation, led by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren in 2016, revealed that the conspiracy to cheat covered more than 1,000 athletes in 30 sports, and was directed from the Russian sports ministry.
