LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - More than 100 “strong cases” of suspected Russian doping are being prepared using data retrieved from the Moscow testing laboratory.
World Anti-Doping Agency president Craig Reedie said Wednesday it is “packaging evidence” for sports governing bodies to prosecute the highest priority cases.
Only data for “suspicious cases” is being provided, Reedie said, adding he expects more than 100 files in the “first wave of strong cases against those we suspect of cheating.”
Data and samples were eventually retrieved this year from the Moscow lab covering drug testing up to 2015 - a period when Russian officials routinely covered up cases.
They include two Russians each banned for four years on Tuesday by the International Biathlon Union, which cited “aggravating circumstances” of taking parted in an orchestrated doping program.
The IBU said two more cases using the lab data are still ongoing: They are Olympic gold medalists Evgeny Ustyugov and Svetlana Sleptsova.
Track and field cases are being prepared by the Athletics Integrity Unit which said last week it got more than 100,000 computer files linked to Moscow from WADA.
Reedie said all priority cases will have been investigated by the end of this year.
“Significant progress continues to be made,” said the outgoing WADA president, who leaves office in November.
WADA obtained the Moscow lab files and raw data from the drug-testing equipment in January after months of wrangling with Russian authorities, and a missed deadline in December.
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