Olympics: Russia claims anti-doping progress, must convince sceptics

Russia, for years after the fall of the Soviet Union notorious as one of the world’s worst sports doping offenders, claims to have finally made progress in the fight against drugs and but now must convince sceptics when it hosts the Olympics.

Russian officials are acutely aware that a single positive doping test by a Russian athlete at the Games, which which open on February 7, would cast a shadow over the entire event and further tarnish the country’s reputation.

Critics point to the fact that several-high profile dope cheats are still being uncovered every year in Russia but sports officials in the country say that this is evidence that a revamped anti-doping system is finally working.

A huge shadow fell over Russia’s anti-doping campaign this week when it was announced that the glamour star of Russian swimming, Olympic bronze medallist Yulia Efimova, had been handed a provisional suspension after she tested positive for a banned drug in an out-of-competition doping control test.

Russian halfpipe and slopestyle champion Anna Orlovskaya, a Sochi contender, has been suspended for two years for a positive test and will miss the Games.

When the Russian squad lined up for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, where it won only three gold medals in its worst ever performance, its numbers had been severely depleted by positive dope tests.