May 12, 2016 – More details are beginning to emerge about alleged Russian doping at the the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi reports the New York Times. It is now alleged that the Russian authorities “protected” key athletes at the Sochi Games, substituting their tainted urine with clean samples through an elaborate scheme that involved passing sample bottles through a hole in the wall in the middle of the night.

Citing former head of the Russian Anti-Doping Centre, Grigory Rodchenkov, The Times reports that one third of all medals were awarded to athletes whose names appeared on a spreadsheet of “protected athletes.”

Among the “protected” athletes was star a cross-country skier, Alexander Legkov, who won gold and silver; as well as bobsledder Alexander Zubkov (2 golds) and Alexander Tretyakov, who won gold in the skeleton (one-man sledding) competition. The spreadsheet was provided by the sports ministry before the Games.

Rodchenkov, now living in exile in the USA, indicates that not all athletes on the “protected” list won medals; the women’s hockey team was on the list but finished sixth.

Part of the scheme involved breaking into “tamper proof” self-locking glass bottles made by Swiss company, Berlinger, produced for international competitions, including the Olympics. The scheme was deemed a success: at Sochi Games, Russian athletes won 33 medals – including 13 golds.

Rodchenkov boasts of having developed a cocktail of three anabolic steroids – metenolone, trenbolone and oxandrolone – reportedly used by many top-level Russian athletes leading up to the London Olympics in 2012 and throughout the Sochi Games. This cocktail–dissolved in either Chivas whisky or Martini vermouth—speeded recovery times, allowing athletes to compete in top form over successive days.

The Times article follows announcements earlier this week that 60 Minutes TV show would reveal the names of Russian medallists who were doping at Sochi. Despite the hype, 60 Minutes did not reveal much more than the name of Maria Savinova, a gold medallist track runner from the 2012 London Olympics. WADA has already recommended that she serve a lifetime suspension for doping at the London Games.

Russian Sports Ministry officials continue to deny allegations of state-sponsored doping.

New York Times article here.