“Our suspicions turned out to be correct”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) admitted that in the case of Russian biathletes Olga Zaitseva, Olga Vilukhina and Yana Romanova, accused of violating anti-doping rules, documents were provided with fake signatures of the former head of the Moscow anti-doping agency Grigory Rodchenkov. This was stated by TASS lawyer Alexei Panich after the second day of the hearing in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne (CAS).

“In response, a new document signed by Rodchenkov was provided. We were provided only part of this document, which does not suit us very much, but such is the procedure in the Court of Arbitration for Sport ... We, having looked at what was provided, see that, firstly, the fact that Mr. Rodchenkov did not sign any of the affidavits (a written statement about any fact being sworn in. - RT ), which were submitted: that is, our suspicions and expert statements were correct - Rodchenkov did not sign these documents, ”Panich said.

The conclusion about the signature mismatch was made by Russian and British forensic experts. They found that signatures on seven of the nine testimonies were fake.

“Rodchenkov said that he agreed to the use of his electronic signatures, but the fact is that such a statement is in direct contradiction with what the experts said. Experts said that the electronic signature was used only on two documents out of nine. That is, in relation to seven documents, the experts indicated that the signatures were made by another person, ”the lawyer explained.

He expressed the hope that now the documents that were previously key in passing the guilty verdict will be removed from the affairs of his clients. In addition, the lawyer suggested that the recognition of the IOC will affect the processes of other Russian athletes.

“Some of the documents that are in our case were submitted in other cases. Both in those that have already been considered, and in those that are being considered or will be considered in the near future, ”added Panich.

Recall that these documents served as the basis for the IOC verdict at the end of 2017. Then Zaitseva, Vilukhina and Romanova were included in the list of 43 Russian athletes accused of violating anti-doping rules during the Olympic Games in Sochi and received lifelong suspension. This decision was made following an investigation by a commission of Denis Oswald.

The prosecution was pleased with the past hearings and expects that it will take several weeks for the CAS to make a decision. It is worth noting that earlier the court fully or partially satisfied the appeals of 39 athletes from the Russian Federation.

“I think that everything will be fine”

All three biathletes attended both meetings and had the opportunity to testify. So, Olga Zaitseva said that she had nothing to do with doping fraud and never met with Rodchenkov. She admitted that for two years everyone was in a state of uncertainty, and the most difficult were the baseless allegations of doping.

“It seems that we are accused, but it seems that we are not, people call us doping agents, and I know that I didn’t. It’s very difficult to hear, because you are told that you are to blame, although Rodchenkov’s accusations against me personally have no complaints, my surname was mentioned once at the beginning. Of course, we hope for a decision in favor of us, but I don’t know how it will be, ”she said.

All three biathletes left the courthouse in high spirits. Vilukhina admitted that she hoped for a positive outcome.

“I think that everything will be fine. The only thing I would like is a decision to be made immediately. It so casts a huge shadow on me. It infuriates me when I come to compete in Russia, I am declared the winner of the World Cup. Where is the prefix for the two-time Olympic silver medalist? We have been fighting all these years, ”said Vilukhina.

The former head coach of the Russian national team Wolfgang Pichler, who held this post from 2011 to 2014, was also present at the meeting as a witness for the prosecution. He supported his ex-wards, and also stated that the entire doping scandal constitutes a “big fight with Russia”.

“During the hearing, I told the truth. I think that Rodchenkov is lying. For example, he said that in January 2013 I was with Ekaterina Glazyrina in Oberhof, although at that moment we were at the training camp in Seefeld, where we were preparing for the stage in Ruhpolding, and Glazyrina did not even plan to come to Oberhof. This story says a lot about him, ”Pichler said.

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Representatives of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) declined to publicly comment on information about fake documents. At the same time, the Kremlin noted the importance of this detail for the whole case.

“Of course, this is information that deserves the closest attention,” said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the President of the Russian Federation.