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Grigory Rodchenkov
open-in-new
<p>Grigory Mikhailovich Rodchenkov is the former head of <a href="/facts/Moscow_antidoping_laboratory/emtjCau1">Russia's national anti-doping laboratory</a>, the <i>Anti-Doping Center</i>. Rodchenkov is known for his involvement in the <a href="/facts/Doping_in_Russia/snExPP2X">state-run doping program in Russia</a>. </p><p>In November 2015, the Independent Commission of the <a href="/facts/World_Anti-Doping_Agency/z1KV3bhB">World Anti-Doping Agency</a> (WADA) determined that Rodchenkov was "at the heart of the positive drug test coverup", and that he had been directly involved with concealing positive tests and destroying 1,417 urine samples. Rodchenkov made headlines in 2016 after an interview to <i><a href="/facts/The_New_York_Times/T9marWVX">The New York Times</a></i> exposing the doping program in Russia. Rodchenkov said he developed a three-drug cocktail of banned substances that he mixed with liquor and provided to dozens of athletes at the <a href="/facts/2014_Winter_Olympics/PeL2E3jE">Sochi Olympics</a>. Rodchenkov's allegations were confirmed by the independent <a href="/facts/McLaren_Report/hTpEAQKa">McLaren Report</a>, leading to Russia's partial bans from the <a href="/facts/2016_Summer_Olympics/Q4AuHGTy">2016 Summer Olympics</a> and <a href="/facts/2018_Winter_Olympics/AgjfEafm">2018 Winter Olympics</a>. Since the revelations became public, Rodchenkov has been living in hiding, under <a href="/facts/Witness_protection/vE61VJp5">witness protection</a>. </p><p>Rodchenkov and his connections to Russian doping were the subject of the 2017 <a href="/facts/Netflix/TKtlFVY9">Netflix</a> documentary <i><a href="/facts/Icarus_(2017_film)/aTDztdR2">Icarus</a></i>, which won the <a href="/facts/Academy_Award_for_Best_Documentary_Feature/sS7YHW8w">Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature</a> at the <a href="/facts/90th_Academy_Awards/poRQccWR">90th Oscars ceremony</a>. </p><p>In 2023, the United States authorized the <i>Rodchenkov Act</i> which seeks to identify and sanction individuals involved in doping at major international sporting events if American companies are involved in sponsoring those events or the American financial system is utilized by the organizers. </p>