IAAF under fire as further Russian doping allegations surface

Athletics’ governing body came under renewed fire on Tuesday following disclosures that top officials were aware of a serious doping problem among Russian athletes as far back as 2009 and appeared to work with the country’s federation to minimise the publicity surrounding it.

A copy of a letter from Pierre Weiss, then the general secretary of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), to Valentin Balakhnichev, the former Russian athletics president who was banned from the sport for life last week, has been published by the Associated Press.

In the letter, dated October 14, 2009, Weiss described the results of blood tests taken at that year’s world championships in Berlin and the world half-marathon championships in Birmingham, England.

“Unfortunately I do not have good news regarding the blood parameter levels of the Russian athletes in Berlin. Again they were extremely high, and again much more so than any other country competing,” Weiss wrote.

Referring to the blood levels of Russian athletes in Birmingham, Weiss said two athletes “recorded some of the highest values ever seen since the IAAF started testing”.

“Not only are these athletes cheating their fellow competitors but at these levels are putting their health and even their own lives in very serious danger.”

The IAAF had said in response that the letters did not show any evidence of wrong-doing and that it followed correct procedures in all the cases mentioned.

Abnormal blood levels are not in themselves enough for an athlete to be punished for an anti-doping offence but are widely held to be an indicator of possible performance-enhancing drug use.