LIVIGNO, Italy — As the Winter Olympics head toward the finish line, the IOC has once again walked right into a Russia problem.
Just as it appeared that the Olympic movement was getting ready to soft launch Russia’s return in the upcoming Paralympic Games — prompting the Ukrainians to say they’ll boycott the March 6 Opening Ceremony — the continuation of a war about to reach its fourth anniversary isn’t the only issue getting dropped on the IOC’s doorstep.
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It’s also the cheating.
Again.
The New York Times broke a story Friday suggesting that a whistleblower told the World Anti-Doping Agency they had first-hand knowledge that Veronika Loginova, the head of Russia’s current antidoping program, was directly involved in the state-sponsored doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. That scandal resulted in a slew of disqualifications, lifetime bans and Russian athletes being unable to compete under their own flag through the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Though that ban expired, Russia was barred from the 2024 Summer Games in Paris and the Milan Cortina Games for violating the Olympic charter as a result of invading a neighboring country.
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Of course, Russian athletes have been competing in the Olympics all along — 209 of them four years ago in Beijing under the “Russian Olympic Committee” banner (as if that fooled anybody), 15 of them in Paris as “Individual Neutral Athletes” (mostly in tennis, cycling and canoeing) and 13 of them here under the same neutral flag.
Adeliia Petrosian is among the Russian athletes at the 2026 Olympics competing as an “Individual Neutral Athlete.” (Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images)
(Tim Clayton via Getty Images)
But there’s now widespread suspicion the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will mark Russia’s full-fledged return, even as the war in Ukraine continues with little evidence it’s coming to an end anytime soon.
At a news conference Friday to essentially wrap up the Games, IOC president Kirsty Coventry sidestepped multiple questions on the Russia issue, saying the International Paralympic Committee was a completely separate organization and the IOC had no role in the decision to allow six Russians and four Belarusians to compete in the upcoming Paralympics under their national flags.
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“For right now, we’re focusing on the last three days of Milano Cortina,” she said.
The most interesting moment, though, was a question that caught Coventry completely off-guard. When Juliet Macur, who reported the Times piece on the supposed WADA whistleblower, asked Coventry if it was a concern for the IOC as Russia is being welcomed back into the Olympic fold, it practically stopped Coventry in her tracks.
“I’m looking at my team and maybe someone needs to be dismissed because I’m not aware of that,” Coventry said.
“I haven’t heard it,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams interjected.
“But I would be interested to find out more about it,” Coventry said. “So if you could share it directly with me because that would be very important information and knowledge. If it’s on the New York Times, I’m looking at my team to be like, ‘What happened guys?’ But nope, I’m not aware of that.”
Kirsty Coventry, president of the International Olympic Committee, speaks to media representatives before the conclusion of the Olympic Winter Games Milan Cortina 2026. (Peter Kneffel/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(picture alliance via Getty Images)
The moment was so stunning that whatever cynicism you want to project onto Coventry and the IOC’s dealings with Russia generally — which would be much deserved, by the way — this one either caught her genuinely off-guard or she’s the world’s greatest actress.
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And if there’s any legs to this story, it comes back to a point we can’t repeat often enough: When it comes to Russia, the IOC never learns.
Now, it must be noted that nothing’s been proven. Though WADA acknowledged the existence of a generic and serious whistleblower tip to the Times, that’s really all we know. The Times couldn’t independently verify the specific claims about Loginova, and it’s unclear whether WADA is really investigating the matter or even wants to.
Let’s just say WADA’s credibility with American antidoping authorities on these matters hasn’t exactly been rock-solid since 23 Chinese swimmers were cleared after testing positive for a banned heart medication at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
But given Russia’s habitual doping issues going back to the 1980s — no country has had more athletes test positive at the Olympics — would it really be a huge surprise if the country’s current antidoping chief was in fact one of the architects of a widespread, systematic coverup of positive tests in 2014?
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Though Loginova denied it to the Times — “I had no potential involvement in the antidoping laboratory’s operations, much less influence the collection of doping samples and their subsequent testing,” she reportedly wrote in an e-mail — the IOC better get to the bottom of it.
Because at some point, hopefully before 2028, the war in Ukraine will end. And if Russia makes a full-fledged return in Los Angeles, it would not only make a mockery of the IOC but also the United States if they have been allowed to just run the same playbook that has earned them their horrific reputation for cheating.
Then again, maybe none of these stakeholders really care.
WADA and the IOC have always treated Russia with a light touch, levying punishments only when the evidence is overwhelming — and even then taking the cowardly way out. (Sorry, but allowing Russia to compete under “ROC” in 2022 was a joke given how flagrant the cheating was in Sochi. Even the state security apparatus was involved in the coverup.)
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Also, as much as Coventry can say there’s a barrier between the IOC and the Paralympic committee, does anyone really believe they’d bring Russia (and Belarus) back into the fold next month without the IOC’s blessing?
Fat chance.
This smells like a trial balloon. And now, just as it’s about to be released, here comes another accusation of malfeasance, another test for the IOC to see whether it’s serious about conducting a clean Olympics in Los Angeles or play the fool for Vladimir Putin.
After all, that’s what the organization does best.