USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart issued the following statement in response to findings documented in a newly released report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, which stems from his second investigation into Russia’s state-supported doping system.
“It’s another staggering example of how the Olympic movement has been corrupted and clean athletes robbed by Russia’s state-supported doping system. The IOC has to act – and clean athletes won’t be satisfied until WADA is empowered to be a truly independent global regulator and the Russian Olympic Committee is suspended until deemed code compliant. No international sporting events should be held in Russia until its anti-doping program is fully Code compliant and all the individuals who participated in the corruption are held accountable.”
“We also need to need to do everything in our power to support the athletes who were robbed. And while they may never be able to get back the moment that was stolen from them, we have to make sure that at least some of what was taken from them is restored.”