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    IOC promises 'toughest sanctions' in Russia doping scheme

    Less than three weeks before the Opening Ceremonies for the 2016 Rio Olympics, the International Olympic Committee has promised "the toughest sanctions available" after an independent report from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) released Monday found Russia had concealed hundreds of positive doping tests from its athletes -- including wrestlers -- at a number of sporting events.

    IOC President Thomas Bach said results of the independent WADA investigation released earlier Monday had revealed "a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games. Therefore, the IOC will not hesitate to take the toughest sanctions available against any individual or organization implicated."

    The IOC did not say whether existing bans on Russian track and field athletes and weightlifters for the 2016 Olympics will be extended to that nation's wrestlers and other athletes.

    Monday morning WADA published the much-anticipated, 97-page McLaren Report -- named for the Canadian law professor Richard McLaren who headed up the project -- that confirmed claims of state-backed Russian cheating at the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia, as well as at various other sporting events.

    McLaren's two-month investigation found that of 577 positive samples screened, 312 positive results were held back. Of these positive samples which were held back, the majority -- more than 240 -- came from Russian wrestlers and track and field athletes.

    The McLaren Report confirmed allegations made by Grigory Rodchenkov, former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, that dozens of Russian athletes had used performance-enhancing drugs with the support not only of national sports authorities but even the Russian intelligence service, the FSB, the current version of the Soviet Union's KGB.

    The report alleged that potentially problematic samples were swapped out by FSB agents at the testing facility during the night through a "mouse hole" in a wall. The suspect samples were replaced by samples containing clean urine to avoid detection.

    The report traced the Russian drug scheme back to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, where the traditional sports power placed 11th overall, earning only three gold medals.

    "The surprise result of the Sochi investigation was the revelation of the extent of State oversight and directed control of the Moscow Laboratory in processing and covering up urine samples of Russian athletes from virtually all sports before and after the Sochi Games," said the report.

    The McLaren Report listed seven action points. At the top of the list: WADA requested the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee refuse all athletes from Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and the Russian Paralympic Committee. In addition, WADA also wants Russian government officials to be denied access to international competitions, including the upcoming Olympics.

    Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA -- the United States Anti-Doping Agency -- called the report proof of a "mind-blowing level of corruption" and urged the international community to come together to ensure that what he called an unprecedented level of criminality never threatens sports again.

    Tygart's statement did not include a call for a full ban of the Russian team from the Rio Games. Last week, he said if the report was as damning as expected that he would push for such a ban.

    U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun said in a statement that the report "confirms what we have stated previously: the current anti-doping system is broken and urgently requires the attention of everyone interested in protecting clean athletes."

    "In the meantime, we are focused on preparing Team USA to compete at the upcoming Rio Games and will rely on the IOC, WADA and the international federations to impose sanctions that are appropriate in relation to the magnitude of these offenses, and that give clean athletes some measure of comfort that they will be competing on a level playing field in Rio," Blackmun said.

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