U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

30–972PDF WASHINGTON : 2018

THE STATE OF PLAY: GLOBALIZED CORRUPTION,

STATE-RUN DOPING, AND INTERNATIONAL SPORT

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND 

COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JULY 25, 2018 

Printed for the use of the

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

[CSCE 115–2–5]

(

Available via www.csce.gov 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

HOUSE SENATE

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,

Co-Chairman 

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida 

ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama 

MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas 

STEVE COHEN, Tennessee 

RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina 

RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois 

SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas 

GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin

ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi,

Chairman 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire 

THOM TILLIS, North Carolina 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island

EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

Vacant, Department of State 

Vacant, Department of Commerce 

Vacant, Department of Defense 

[II] 

(III)

THE STATE OF PLAY: GLOBALIZED

CORRUPTION, STATE-RUN DOPING,

AND INTERNATIONAL SPORT 

JULY 25, 2018

COMMISSIONERS 

Page 

Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Ranking Member, Commission 

on Security and Cooperation in Europe ................................. 1

Hon. Michael C. Burgess, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe .......................................... 6

Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman, Commission on 

Security and Cooperation in Europe ...................................... 9

Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe .......................................... 16

WITNESSES 

Travis Tygart, CEO, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency ........................ 3

Katie Uhlaender, U.S. Olympian ............................................... 4

Yuliya Stepanova, former Russian Olympian and anti-doping 

whistleblower ........................................................................... 11

Dagmar Freitag, Chairwoman, Sports Committee of the German Bundestag ........................................................................ 13

Jim Walden, Partner, Walden Macht & Haran LLP; attorney 

for Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov .................................................... 14

APPENDIX 

Prepared statement of Hon. Michael C. Burgess ..................... 33

Prepared statement of Hon. Christopher Smith ....................... 36

Prepared statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin .................... 38

Prepared statement of Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee ...................... 40

Prepared statement of Travis Tygart ........................................ 42

Prepared statement of Katie Uhlaender ................................... 47

Prepared statement of Yuliya Stepanova .................................. 50

Prepared statement of Dagmar Freitag .................................... 53

Prepared statement of Jim Walden ........................................... 56

(1)

THE STATE OF PLAY: GLOBALIZED

CORRUPTION, STATE-RUN DOPING,

AND INTERNATIONAL SPORT 

July 25, 2018

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

WASHINGTON, DC

The hearing was held at 2:12 p.m. in Room 562, Dirksen Senate 

Office Building, Washington, DC, Hon. Michael C. Burgess, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 

presiding. 

Commissioners present: Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Ranking Member, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Michael C. Burgess, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman, 

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and Hon. 

Sheila Jackson Lee, Commissioner, Commission on Security and 

Cooperation in Europe. 

Witnesses present: Travis Tygart, CEO, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency; 

Katie Uhlaender, U.S. Olympian; Yuliya Stepanova, former Russian Olympian and Anti-doping whistleblower; Dagmar Freitag, 

Chairwoman, Sports Committee of the German Bundestag; and 

Jim Walden, Partner, Walden Macht & Haran LLP; attorney for 

Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov. 

HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, RANKING MEMBER, COMMISSION 

ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. CARDIN. [Sounds gavel.] Let me welcome you to this Helsinki 

hearing on ‘‘The State of Play: Globalized Corruption, State-Run 

Doping, and International Sport.’’

On behalf of Senator Wicker, our chairman, Dr. Burgess is going 

to be chairing the hearing. The House is a little late getting here. 

I’m going to apologize in the beginning. This is an extremely important hearing, but unknown to us when this hearing was scheduled, 

the House has votes scheduled now. Of course, they’re trying to adjourn tomorrow until September. The Senate is nowhere near as 

fortunate; we’ll be here forever. But we have votes scheduled at 

2:30. And then the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which I 

serve on, is holding a hearing with Secretary of State Pompeo. It’s 

our first opportunity of any congressional committee to question 

the Trump administration on the Helsinki summit with Mr. Putin 

and the Singapore summit with Kim Jong-un. So, there’s a lot 

going on today, and that’s just an apology to tell you that there 

2

may be some interruptions in our hearing, and we apologize for 

that. But we wanted you to know that this is an extremely important hearing. 

What happened in regards to the doping should not be a surprise 

to any of us. It comes right out of Mr. Putin’s playbook. Six months 

ago, I authored a report on behalf of the Senate Foreign Relations 

Committee in regards to Mr. Putin’s asymmetrical-arsenal attack 

against democratic institutions. It went through a whole host of 

tools that are used by Mr. Putin, including the weaponization of 

corruption, which is exactly what we saw in the doping issue. We 

know that Mr. Putin is interested in winning the battle on form of 

government. His main target is Europe, but he’s also been very active in the United States. 

But what is less understood is that he uses these weapons 

against his own people in order to be able to get the type of support 

that he has within the Russian Government. And we saw that very 

clearly in regards to the Sochi Olympics. His popularity before the 

Sochi Olympics was approximately 54 percent, and it soared to 83 

percent after Russia won the most medals. So clearly this was not 

done by legitimate methods. 

What we need to do to counter what Mr. Putin is doing is in the 

report I authored. We need a greater defense against misinformation. We’ve got to watch the social media. We’ve got to diversify our 

energy sources. We have to not only enforce our sanctions but look 

at stronger sanctions against Russia. And we need to support those 

brave people who are the partisans in Russia that stand up to this 

type of activity. 

That’s why we are so pleased to recognize those that have been 

on the forefront of standing up to Mr. Putin. I, along with Senator 

McCain, the authors of the Sergei Magnitsky law—Sergei 

Magnitsky to many of us is a hero. He stood up to corruption in 

Russia, representing a client, doing what any lawyer should do 

when he discovers corruption: advising the public, advising the authorities. As a result, as you all know, he was arrested, tortured, 

and killed. We passed, with a lot of leadership through this committee, the Sergei Magnitsky law—first toward Russia, but later 

globally, to recognize the strength of one individual, but recognizing that we need to act against those who violate basic human 

rights. 

Whistleblowers in Russia are the true patriots of Russia, and we 

want you all to know that. I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. 

Grigory Rodchenkov when he was here in Washington to hear firsthand about his efforts in regards to exposing the doping scheme, 

and how he discovered it, and what he tried to do about it, and how 

they tried to engage him. We certainly want to welcome all of the 

witnesses, but I particularly want to thank Ms. Stepanova for 

being here today. You are a brave person, and we thank you very 

much, and you do represent what the Russian people need today. 

So we welcome all of our witnesses and we look forward to your 

testimony. 

And, with that, I will start with Mr. Travis Tygart, you are our 

first witness. I should have some introduction for you. Mr. Tygart 

is the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. We welcome and look 

forward to your testimony. 

3

TRAVIS TYGART, CEO, U.S. ANTI-DOPING AGENCY 

Mr. TYGART. Thank you, Senator, and good afternoon to you as 

well. My name is Travis Tygart, as you’ve just said, and I’m the 

CEO at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, or what is commonly known 

as USADA. I want to thank you, but also the other members of the 

commission, for their interest in clean sport and for the opportunity 

to testify here today. 

We have arrived, as you noted, at a critical juncture for the soul 

of sport. Fairness and integrity in athletic competition—two principles at the very heart of why we play—hang in the balance. 

They’ve been abused and they are currently under attack. 

You’re going to hear from Yulia, who with powerful dreams coupled with a nugget of the truth, did the unimaginable by standing 

up to Russian thugs and the corruption of sport in her country. 

Yulia, like Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, should be thanked and recognized for their sacrifice for fair play, the rule of law, literally at the 

risk of their own lives. 

You will also hear about the crushed dreams from American 

skeleton athlete Katie Uhlaender, an innocent victim of this morally bankrupt Russian scheme. Athletes like Yulia and Katie, and 

their powerful stories, are our guiding light. They’re our North 

Star. Their stories give us hope, they remind us of our purpose, 

and they provide us the fuel to continue to fight. 

Sport is under attack because of the astounding lengths to which 

Russia’s corrupt system went to deceive and defraud the world. 

You’ve heard the facts: shadow laboratories; tampering with bottles; and then cyberattacks to smear innocent athletes, including 

U.S. athletes, by Russia’s intelligence officers; swapped samples; directives from the sport minister’s office deciding which athletes 

who doped would be protected. 

Unfortunately, when the moment of truth came to confront this 

fraud, the International Olympic Committee chose not to stand up 

for clean athletes and against institutionalized doping. The IOC 

missed or ignored a defining moment to confront in the clearest 

way possible the win-at-all-costs behavior that Russia has perpetrated. 

Despite this, however, two silver linings have emerged. First, 

athletes are mobilizing for clean sport like never before. Frankly, 

we wish more corporations—both sponsors and broadcasters—that 

profit off of athletes and from these competitions would stand up 

and speak out. Seriously, where are they? Why aren’t they here 

testifying today? 

Second, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to disrupt entrenched positions for the good to make sure that this kind of thuggery is never again allowed to rear its ugly head. To us, it all starts 

with independence. I’ve had the privilege to speak to Congress a 

few times before about the elements of an effective program, one 

to actually win the battle for clean athletes, not just for sport 

brand purposes. In the U.S. and in many countries around the 

globe, these key elements are part of the program: year-round testing, no advanced notice, out-of-competition testing, conducting robust intelligence gathering and partnerships on investigations with 

law enforcement. They have proved successful. 

4

We have long advocated for a clear separation between those who 

promote sport and those who police sport. To do so is to have the 

fox guard the henhouse. You simply can’t both promote and police. 

This matter of independence is the most important issue, we think, 

facing global sports and anti-doping today. 

The good news is that WADA’s failed governance model, the global body overseeing sport, could be fixed immediately by simply removing the sport leaders from the executive functions from 

WADA’s leadership. Basically, take the blindfolds off, take the 

handcuffs off, and let the global regulator—the watchdog—actually 

grow teeth and use them. At least 37 national anti-doping organizations like USADA around the world support specific proposals to 

fix these problems, and they’re outlined in the Copenhagen Reform 

Declaration. And they include independence; confirming WADA’s 

ability to investigate, sanction, and monitor compliance; significant 

and meaningful recognition of athletes who have lost medals to 

doped athletes; and increased support and protection for whistleblowers. 

The Russian corruption, and sport’s failure to do the right thing 

when it mattered and had the chance to do it, is what has directly 

led us here today. And it is, frankly, time for us all who value these 

principles of fair play to fight back. 

We wholeheartedly support the goal of ensuring corrupt organizations or corrupt governments, like we saw in this sordid affair, 

that defraud athletic competitions never happens again, and ensuring protection for truthful whistleblowers. Several of these concepts 

are in the legislation that is before us. Additionally, we are also 

ready to assist to help ensure any legislation that is ultimately 

passed is precise, effective, and ultimately successful to protect 

clean athletes’ rights. 

Senator, members of the committee, for those of us who value the 

rights of clean athletes and the preservation of a fair, safe, and 

healthy playing field, this is the moment. And it’s not just a moment about elite Olympic athletes, but about every kid on a playground who has an Olympic dream and asks, what do I have to do 

to make my dream come true? The truth is, if we don’t push, if we 

don’t win, we will likely find ourselves back in this same position 

a few years from now, staring another state-supported doping system in the face—one that has abused its athletes and robbed another generation of clean athletes from what is rightfully theirs. I 

think we’ll all be wondering at that point why didn’t we do more 

today when we had the chance. 

Thank you. 

Mr. CARDIN. I thank you very much for your testimony. 

Katie Uhlaender, who is a four-time Olympian, world champion, 

two-time World Cup champion, six-time world champion medalist, 

11-time World Cup gold medalist, and holds a total of 22 World 

Cup career medals for the sport of skeleton. Congratulations on 

your achievement. 

KATIE UHLAENDER, U.S. OLYMPIAN 

Ms. UHLAENDER. Thank you, sir. Yes, the only medal I’m missing 

is the one we’re going to discuss today. [Laughter.] 

5

Thank you for the opportunity to be here. It’s inspiring to know 

that the leaders of our nation have not given up on protecting athlete rights. 

I’ve dedicated my life to running headfirst onto a sled 80 miles 

an hour, hurtling down an icy chute with my chin just a couple 

inches off the ice, proudly wearing USA on my uniform. 

I’ve competed holding personal growth, integrity, and character 

at the forefront of my goals and duties as an Olympian. I learned 

these things from my father, who was a Major League Baseball 

player. In the 1972 World Series against the Oakland A’s he was 

presented with the opportunity to take performance-enhancing 

drugs and he told me his response was: If you’re at your best, it’s 

enough. 

The lesson to me was whatever path I chose in life should be 

something of pure grit and all I had to offer. Excuses should never 

get in the way of success, and your heart in the effort will define 

you. The effort, integrity, and how I pursue excellence are worth 

more than the results or the career I choose. I chose to be an athlete like my father, which actively delayed my education, finding 

a home or a career. But my decision to be an Olympian was one 

that I saw challenging my growth, giving me inspiration that was 

also an opportunity to inspire those around me. It’s a noble path 

that allows iron to sharpen iron, and one that I believe honors my 

father’s legacy, what he taught me, my country, and God. And giving the Olympic movement all I have is the way to do that. 

Sport is a space in which all races, political parties, and nations 

come together. The Olympics hold their participants to a higher 

standard than any other place, and I’m an ambassador for my 

country and for that movement that touches the world. 

I’m not government funded. [Laughs.] I don’t have any sponsorship. There’s very little money to be made essentially racing a 

super-fast American Flyer down an icy chute. [Laughs.] 

None of the challenges I’ve faced have deterred me from my 

dream or grit. It’s a privilege to compete for the United States. 

The dream, though, was to one day stand on the podium—sorry, 

it’s emotional——

Mr. CARDIN. That’s all right. 

Ms. UHLAENDER.——to see my country’s flag raised, and be able 

to say thank you to the people that supported me and helped me 

get there, the people that believe in pursuing excellence over glory. 

But my moment was stolen—oh my goodness, sorry——

Mr. CARDIN. Take your time. 

Ms. UHLAENDER. The glory was in my effort, and I truly believe 

that medal is not mine. My joy is to get to put my best steps forward. The medal was America’s. 

I fell short of that opportunity in Sochi at the Olympics. I missed 

it by four-hundredths of a second over four miles. That’s quicker 

than you can blink. I lost to a Russian named in the McLaren Report who benefited from the state conspiracy. Due to a lack of enforcement, she and Russia have kept the medal. 

When The New York Times revealed the extent of the state-sponsored conspiracy, my heart broke. This was a defining moment for 

all involved. A line was crossed. It erased the meaning of sport and 

6

the Olympics as I knew it. But I resolved that I had done all I 

could with integrity and I couldn’t lose twice. 

But I was wrong. The IOC stripped the medals from those named 

in the McLaren Report in November 2017 and I was a bronze medalist. It felt like the good guy could win. But 6 weeks later, the day 

I arrived at my fourth Olympic Games, they announced the Court 

of Arbitration overturned that decision and gave the medals back 

to Russia and that athlete. I was no longer a bronze medalist and 

now had lost twice at the same Olympics. No one is disputing Russia’s conspiracy to cheat, the fraud, or doping. And yet, nothing was 

done to protect the athletes or prevent this from happening again. 

I don’t know how, in light of all the evidence presented, that 

there was no accountability held. All of the virtues I was taught 

to hold above all else were left standing alone, without support, 

seeming no longer valuable to the Olympic movement—and it 

scares me. 

As an athlete, I’ve done all I can. I compete with integrity. I represent my nation. I will continue to do so with honor and show 

gratitude for the opportunity to represent my nation. 

It seems clean athletes like myself have no choice but to turn to 

you, the leaders of our nation, for help. We need help protecting 

the ideals that passed from my father to myself and the things that 

children are raised believing to inspire them to a lifetime of dedication and self-belief, the self-belief that creates American heroes. 

So thank you for your time. I’m sorry for the tears. 

Mr. CARDIN. Well, you know, thank you for the moments you 

gave to our country. We can only imagine how hard the work is to 

train and to be at your best, and to know that you’re a winner but 

for the doping it’s not been recognized. It’s very difficult. But we’re 

very proud of you sticking to your principles and doing everything 

you could to represent our nation with great pride and dignity. So 

thank you very much. 

I’m going to turn the gavel over to Dr. Burgess. As I said earlier, 

there are votes currently on the floor of the U.S. Senate and then 

there’s the hearing with Secretary of State Pompeo, so I will not 

be able to return. But I want to thank all of you for participating 

in this hearing. This is an extremely important hearing and we appreciate your participation. 

HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON 

SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. BURGESS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m just proud to know 

you have votes on the Senate floor from time to time. 

Mr. CARDIN. [Laughs.] It happens every once in a while. Not too 

often. 

Mr. BURGESS. And my apologies to the witnesses. We had votes 

on the House floor called right before the top of the hour. 

Chairman Cardin has already called the meeting to order. And 

let me just pause from your statements. I have a statement that 

I’m going to make. And if we’re joined by any other House members we’ll allow them an opportunity to make their statements as 

well. 

This commission is mandated to monitor compliance with commitments freely undertaken by the participating States of the OrVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
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ganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, given the size 

and scope of the Russian state-run doping program and the rampant corruption corroding the integrity of international sport, we are 

compelled to speak out and to take action. In May 2014, Ms. Yuliya 

Stepanova, who we are pleased to have with us today, appeared on 

German TV and blew the whistle on Russian state-run doping program. This led to the formation of an independent commission 

through the World Anti-Doping Agency, which investigated Ms. 

Stepanova’s claims and found that a deeply rooted culture of cheating exists in Russia. 

The fallout of this report in Russia eventually led Dr. Grigory 

Rodchenkov, fearing retaliation from President Putin, to flee Russia for the United States, where he revealed an astonishing amount 

of data and detail on Russia’s state-run doping program that he accumulated while the head of the Moscow anti-doping lab. A New 

York Times expose ́ laid bare the unprecedented extent and complexity of an illegal program that sought to swing many international sports in favor of the Russians. This was accomplished 

through an elaborate scheme which involved numerous Russian 

state agencies, including the Russian Ministry of Sport and the 

FSB, the successor to the former Soviet KGB. 

From 2011 to 2015, over 1,000 Russian athletes in 30 sports benefited from the coverup operation, to the detriment of athletes who 

were not so involved. President Putin himself ordered the state-run 

doping program in order to drum up support for oppression at 

home and aggression abroad. To President Putin, international 

sport is not a competition between skilled individuals but a geopolitical tool equal to Russia’s use for corruption in energy availability and disinformation to influence other states and the population at home. Those who attempt to challenge this state-run apparatus are fighting a losing battle. It is only thanks to whistleblowers like Ms. Stepanova and Dr. Rodchenkov that we have any 

idea of the enormity of the Russian state-run doping operation. 

The World Anti-Doping Agency, while it has done what it can, 

has a budget of $30 million a year, and is going up against a wellfunded state conspiracy. Moreover, after years of mounting evidence, the only significant action taken by the International Olympic Committee has been the suspension of Russia from the 

Pyeongchang Olympic Games, a suspension that has already been 

lifted. In addition, Russian athletes were still allowed to compete 

under the Olympic flag. As was written in The Economist: ‘‘The 

World Anti-Doping Agency is wielding a knife in a highly charged 

arms race. Even when it finds clear evidence of systematic doping, 

as it did in Russia, there is no guarantee that the International 

Olympic Commission will act on it quickly or decisively.’’

Clearly, a new approach is needed to counter this method of authoritarian influence. 

That’s why I, along with my fellow commissioner from Texas, 

Sheila Jackson Lee, introduced the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. 

This act would criminalize doping at international competitions in 

which the United States participates, so as to provide a deterrent 

against those who would engage in doping fraud. It would put 

every Russian doping facilitator on notice that their name may apVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
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pear in a U.S. indictment should they attempt to defraud athletes 

in the future. 

We have already heard some of the testimony from a distinguished panel today, who will provide valuable insight into the 

state of international sport and what can be done to counter corruption and state-run doping. We are particularly pleased to have 

with us today Mr. Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping 

Agency, or USADA. Mr. Tygart has led the USADA through some 

of its most impactful efforts to keep international sport free of 

doping. It has been notably instrumental in Operation Raw Deal, 

one of the largest international steroid busts in history, as well as 

the investigation of the BALCO labs conspiracy, in which the San 

Francisco lab supplied performance-enhancing drugs to professional 

athletes. Mr. Tygart also led the agency’s investigation in the U.S. 

Postal Service pro-cycling team doping conspiracy and spearheaded 

the publication of the recent decision in the Lance Armstrong case. 

Next, and I think we’ve already heard from, is Katie Uhlaender. 

Ms. Uhlaender is a U.S. Olympian who has won five medals at the 

International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. She has won three 

bronze medals, a silver medal, and in 2012 a gold medal—winning 

her first skeleton world championship. She has also won the Women’s Skeleton World Cup twice. Congratulations on your victories. 

We are grateful to have you represent us and the United States of 

America at the Olympics. 

Following Katie, Yuliya Stepanova will share her experiences 

with us. Ms. Stepanova is a world-class Russian athlete and an 

anti-doping whistleblower. Vitaly Stepanov, her husband, is a 

former employee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency and witnessed 

firsthand the Russian state doping program. Mrs. Stepanova bravely began collecting evidence by recording conversations with fellow 

athletes and coaches and uncovered a large-scale doping fraud. 

Yuliya and her husband currently reside in the United States after 

receiving death threats. We thank you and your husband for your 

courage to speak out. 

Dagmar Freitag, who we are very honored to have with us today, 

will provide her perspective from the German Bundestag. Ms. 

Freitag is the chairwoman of the Sports Committee and is an expert in combating doping at both national and international levels. 

She has been part of the Bundestag since 1994 and became chairwoman of the Sports Committee in 2009. Most recently, Ms. 

Freitag has become the deputy chairwoman of the German-U.S. 

Parliamentary Friendship Group. Ms. Freitag, we are grateful for 

your being with us on this side of the Atlantic today. 

Finally, we will hear from Jim Walden, the attorney for Dr. 

Grigory Rodchenkov. Unfortunately, Dr. Rodchenkov himself is unable to be with us here today due to the ever present threat of Russian retaliation against him. Mr. Walden is a partner at Walden, 

Macht & Haran. He participated in a Helsinki Commission briefing 

on the Russian state doping program back in February and has 

been a constant source of insight on these issues. Thank you for 

being here and representing the doctor today. 

Again, thank you all for being here and participating this afternoon. Let me recognize the exalted chairman for life of the Helsinki 

9

Commission—[laughter]—Chris Smith of New Jersey for his opening statement. 

HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CO-CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION 

ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. SMITH. I want to thank Dr. Burgess for his opening and for 

his leadership. He also is the chair of the Health Committee for 

Energy and Commerce. So nothing happens in the area of health 

care without that man taking a lead on it. So we thank you for that 

leadership, which has been extraordinary. 

Welcome, everyone. Athletic doping obviously is really a low. 

That anyone can cheat in a competition and then take any satisfaction or pride in winning is really beyond comprehension, to say 

nothing of the profound unfairness of the other competitors and 

fans and damage to the sport itself, but state-run doping compounds these injustices with serious human rights violations. It 

naturally leads to pressuring athletes to dope and threatening the 

whistleblowers. I want to thank Yuliya Stepanova and Dr. Grigory 

Rodchenkov, represented here today by Jim Walden, for their remarkable courage in revealing the Russian Government state-run 

doping program, as well as they have done. 

It is not only the rest of the world, but Russia itself is indebted 

to them. In blowing the whistle on what their government was 

doing to cheat in international sporting events, they acted as true 

patriots. For any country, it is better to lose a medal than to lose 

the country’s honor. This state-run doping campaign is totally unworthy of the great spiritual heritage of Russia, and takes something away from every Russian person, as it makes it impossible 

for them to take an honest and natural pride in their country’s performance in sporting events. 

Since this hearing addresses globalized corruption in sport, I 

would like to mention a whistleblower who is not here with us 

today, Dr. Xue, a Chinese doctor who worked with China’s Olympic 

team in the 1980s, and at one point served as the chief medical supervisor to the Chinese gymnastic team. Dr. Xue claims that 

10,000 athletes—let me say that again—10,000 athletes were involved in a Chinese state-run doping program during the 1980s 

and 1990s. They had to accept the drugs, she says, or ‘‘face punishment or criticism.’’ She adds, ‘‘If you refused to dope, you had to 

leave the team.’’ She also discussed the abhorrent practice of 

doping young athletes, as young as 11 years old, resulting in devastating physical effects. Given the extent of the program, she concludes that all medals won by China at this time should be returned. 

Like too many whistleblowers, however, she has been forced to 

flee her home for fear of retaliation. I would note, parenthetically, 

in addition to the Helsinki Commission I also chair the China Commission. We have raised these issues at hearings in the past. 

Again, the price that she has paid is huge, but she nevertheless 

has been a whistleblower. She has commented, ‘‘Anyone against 

doping damaged the country, and anybody who endangered the 

country now sits in prison in the PRC.’’ She is now seeking asylum 

in Germany. It would be a terrible thing if her claim were to be 

denied and she is forced to return to China. As we are greatly honVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
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ored by Dagmar Freitag, a German member of the Bundestag and 

chairwoman of the Bundestag Sports Committee, who is with us 

today, I would also ask her to check into the good doctor’s fate, particularly in this asylum claim. 

And I yield back to my distinguished chairman. 

Mr. BURGESS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for 

being here today, Mr. Chairman. Since we had votes on the House 

floor, Chairman Cardin had actually called the hearing to order. 

And I came in as Ms. Uhlaender was finishing her statement. Of 

course, we have your written statements, but who else has already 

provided statements? If either of you would just summarize for 

Chairman Smith and I just the key points from your testimony of 

which you want us to be aware, and then we can hear from the 

other witnesses. Mr. Tygart, why don’t we do to you first? 

Mr. TYGART. Without re-reading my testimony, I think the key 

points are obviously that it’s well known Russia corrupted the 

games and international competition like we’ve never seen before. 

The International Olympic Committee, as well as the World AntiDoping Agency, didn’t handle it effectively in our opinion, most importantly, because they’re conflicted. It’s the fox guarding the henhouse. You can’t both promote and police. The IOC had an interest 

in the decision to sanction or not the Russia state-sponsored doping 

and chose not to put any meaningful sanctions in place. 

It’s time to act. These sports organizations are beyond the long 

arm of most jurisdictions. And it’s time to act and ensure that athletes like Katie Uhlaender and their rights are protected in a more 

effective way, and that these types of totalitarian states don’t get 

away with corrupting the games that we love and cherish so much. 

Mr. BURGESS. Thank you. And thank you for recapitulating that. 

Ms. Uhlaender, again, I came in as you were finishing your testimony. And I appreciate that it was significantly emotional for you. 

But if there are any points you want to recapitulate for Chairman 

Smith and myself. 

Ms. UHLAENDER. Thank you so much for the opportunity to do 

that. I’ll try to do it without tears this time. 

I’m a four-time Olympian. My father was a Major League Baseball player who instilled all my virtues and ethics and perseverance 

and approach to life, essentially. One of the most memorable moments I remember him telling me about is when he played with the 

Big Red Machine in 1972. And he was on his way out to the field, 

and a teammate gave him the opportunity to take a performanceenhancing drug. And he said: ‘‘When you’re at your best, it’s 

enough. We’re at the World Series.’’ That lesson, to me, was that 

the substance you give, your grit and the effort, are where the 

glory lies. The results and the medals are the those that are supporting you and helped you get there. 

I don’t know if you know this, but I missed a medal by four-hundredths of a second in the Sochi Olympics. I missed that medal to 

a Russian athlete named in the McLaren Report who benefited 

from the conspiracy. And yet, despite all the evidence that no one 

is disputing—everyone seems to agree there was a conspiracy to 

cheat, there was doping, and there was fraud, but there’s no accountability. She currently still holds the medal, along with Russia. 

11

However, the process in which this has unfolded has been extremely dramatic. I lost once, and I had resolved that I couldn’t 

lose twice. Then the IOC stripped the medals from Russia in November 2017. So I was a bronze medalist. And for a second, I 

thought that the good guy had won. I had missed the opportunity 

to stand on the podium and say thank you to all those that supported me and helped me get there. But in the end, it felt like we 

had won something bigger than just a medal. But that was shortlived. 

The day I arrived at the Olympics in South Korea, they gave the 

medal back. They overruled that decision. I have to say, that was 

a gut punch. It felt worse than the first time, because it crushed 

the spirit of sport for more than just myself. What concerns me the 

most is that there are policies and rules in place. Everyone agrees 

the rules were broken, but nothing has been done about it. I don’t 

understand the lack of enforcement. 

I think that this is a pinnacle moment in history where the athletes like myself are having to turn to the leaders of our government and ask for help to enforce these rules. The reason why it’s 

so scary is I look at examples of the youth and junior athletes. If 

there are no consequences to doping, what’s to stop Russians or another nation from forcing young athletes to dope that changes the 

course of their lives forever, with no consequence to the sport? But 

once they’re done, there’s no one to protect their lives. There’s no 

one to explain to them that what they’re doing is hurting themselves. 

By Russia keeping the medals, it scares me. No accountability. 

No protection. And nothing to stop it from happening again. So 

thank you for the opportunity to discuss this and uphold the ideals 

that my father taught me, and also that create American heroes. 

Mr. BURGESS. Well, thank you so much for being with us today 

and, again for reprising the testimony. And I’ll apologize for Chairman Smith for being late. He’ll never do it again. [Laughter.] 

Mr. SMITH. We did have votes. 

Mr. BURGESS. We did have votes. 

Yuliya Stepanova, you have not testified yet. We have written 

testimony. Are you wishing to give a statement? Please proceed. 

YULIYA STEPANOVA, WORLD-CLASS RUSSIAN ATHLETE AND 

ANTI-DOPING WHISTLEBLOWER 

Ms. STEPANOVA. Thank you very much for inviting me to share 

with you some of my journey as an elite track and field athlete inside of Russia’s doping system, and now a whistleblower hoping to 

make sport clean. I would like to begin by apologizing about my 

past. Unfortunately, I cannot change my past. I was in the Russian 

doping system. I cheated and now I am talking about it. When I 

was 14 years old, I watched the 2000 Olympics. When watching 

Russian athletes compete, I looked at them as gods, as people out 

of this world. They were my heroes and I wanted to represent my 

home country just like them. 

I started training competitively when I was 17 years old. When 

I was 20, my coach started giving me testosterone. That’s where it 

began. I was soon doing EPO injection, taking oral Turinabol, and 

more. In the spring of 2012, I started to feel pain my thigh. The 

12

pain got stronger every day, but I kept training. Soon, I had to stop 

running as it was painful to walk. My coach wanted to help me recover faster and advised me to do infusions with Creatinol-O-phosphate sodium and Mydocalm. 

So I infused the substances. Shortly after, my heart rate started 

to increase rapidly. My heart was beating stronger and stronger 

every second. I was scared. The ambulance came, and they injected 

something to get my heart rate down. I survived the effect of these 

drugs. After this, I was scared to do injections on my own. 

Today, I still have health problems after using all these substances. My ferritin level is 20 times more than it should be, and 

I have a stone in the right buttock from doing iron injections the 

wrong way. Doctor said that my training helps me to use extra ferritin from my body, but when I stopped I have to find a solution 

or I could die from iron poisoning. 

When in the beginning of 2013 I was facing a ban, Vitaly, my 

husband, offered me a choice. I could act like most of my teammates did—cry and continue to listen to the lies of the Russian 

sports officials—or we could try to fight the system together. The 

Russian doping system does not hate people that stay in this system and get caught. It hates people that fight the system. We decided to fight it. We are now traitors to Russia, but we know we 

are doing the right thing. From the beginning, it was our hope to 

get more people to tell the truth, but we understand those that do 

not become whistleblowers, as the fight against corruption in Russian sports is not easy. 

You will lose your job, your career, and fear for your life. You will 

be called a liar and a traitor. I could never imagine that we would 

get this far in raising our concerns about the doping situation in 

Russia. We were not able to find much support inside of Russia, 

but we were happy to see that most Russian sports officials were 

not right. Not every country’s goal is to cover up doping use of athletes of their own country. In fact, rules do matter and ethics matters in sports. We are glad that the problem in Russian sports is 

being discussed globally and the fight is not over yet. The best part 

for us was to learn that there are people that care about fair competition. We just wish those people were louder and stronger. 

I believe that criminalizing doping and strongly punishing those 

that cheat in Olympic sports is a necessary step to make sports 

better. We, as parents, deserve to know that our children that participate on any level of competition are in safe hands and gaining 

positive and ethical experiences. Sports officials, coaches, managers, doctors, and anyone that decides to take advantage of our 

children, the Olympic values and anti-doping rules, must be strongly punished and banned from sports for life. 

Thank you. 

Mr. BURGESS. Thank you, Yuliya. Thank you for your powerful 

testimony. 

Ms. Freitag, let’s turn to you next. And you’re recognized for an 

opening statement, please. 

13

DAGMAR FREITAG, CHAIRWOMAN, SPORTS COMMITTEE OF 

THE GERMAN BUNDESTAG 

Ms. FREITAG. Chairman Burgess, Congressman Smith, ladies and 

gentlemen, thank you for inviting me. It’s my pleasure to be part 

of this hearing which focuses on strategic and legal approaches to 

fight globalized corruption and doping in international sport. My 

presentation, my remarks are based on my personal and professional experiences gained as member of the German Parliament, as 

chairperson of the Sports Committee, as longstanding vice president of the German Track and Field—that means Athletics Federation—and member of the Authority Board of Germany’s national 

anti-doping agency. 

Ladies and gentlemen, the reputation of international sports organizations is simply disastrous. Doping, bribery, manipulation—

all this massively damages the integrity of sports and undermines 

its values. In simple words, we must stand up to international rule 

breaking. As we witness global sport bodies failing to protect the 

sports they represent, we as politicians—from my point of view—

have to set up an effective framework, regulated by law. By doing 

so, take the lead to fight the various threats in sport. 

Sport and sports organizations are at least, more or less, unable 

to protect themselves. And I think this should not go unmentioned, 

in most cases they are recognizably unwilling to do what they could 

do. Moreover, we have to face the fact that some sports organizations protect or even blackmail cheating athletes. One of the worst 

examples was former President Lamine Diack in his term of office 

in the IAAF, the International Association of Athletics Federations. 

When the Russian doping system was uncovered, the International 

Olympic Committee, IOC, showed, from my point of view, a significant lack of leadership. 

But even those organizations that are willing to take every step 

necessary to fight doping and corruption in sport at some point 

have to realize that their means are simply limited. Not only resources—for example, the number, intensity, and intelligence of 

doping tests may be limited. They simply don’t have the tools state 

prosecutors and police bodies have. To make it clear, to root out 

doping and corruption in sport, not only international cooperation 

but also national laws are useful and necessary. 

Just to name a few examples, referring to the doping cases of 

Marion Jones or Lance Armstrong, USADA and the U.S. law enforcement agencies have really done a great job uncovering the network behind the athletes. It could become a great success, as existing U.S. laws allow close cooperation between authorities and the 

USADA. U.S. legal authorities used the Racketeer Influence and 

Corrupt Organizations Act to uncover FIFA’s various corruption 

cases. 

Ladies and gentlemen, for many reasons I support the proposed 

bill, the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. From my point of view, it’s 

a major step forward in the international fight against doping. Let 

me point out two important aspects. Section 7, statute of limitations, defines that no civil suit may be brought unless brought 

within 10 years after the offense was completed. As urine and/or 

blood samples are frozen or stored for up to 10 years and can be 

reanalyzed, it is consistent that the limitation period does not go 

14

below. Should the IOC, the World Anti-Doping Agency, or whatever 

organization extend that period, it might be useful, of course, to 

mirror that progress in the law as well. 

I also recognize that retaliation shall be unlawful. We all know 

about individuals who were put under pressure, for example, and 

forced to keep secrets. Some of those who resisted and testified became outlaws in the world of sports. We have to protect brave 

whistleblowers, like Yuliya, and penalize individuals who threaten 

or retaliate, but let me also mention that I suggest to supplement 

the definition of doping fraud. 

Section 3 defines that a doping fraud means the use of any performance-enhancing drugs. In my understanding, it does not include manipulation of blood and blood components, chemical and 

physical manipulation, or gene doping, named as M1, M2, and M3 

in the WADA’s listing of prohibited methods. Section 3 also defines 

that the list of performance enhancing drugs shall be specified by 

the secretary of health and human science on the basis of scientific 

and international sports standards. From my point of view, it 

might be more useful to refer to the World Anti-Doping Code and 

the prohibited list. 

Ladies and gentlemen, fighting doping, manipulation, bribery, for 

example, in sport is a global challenge, and can only be effectively 

counteracted by implementing and executing legislation. I’m pretty 

sure that athletes would think twice about doping if they would 

risk going to prison because of that, compared to just a temporary 

ban from sport events. Being imprisoned makes really a difference. 

Ladies and gentlemen, some final remarks. In some countries, 

anti-doping regimes are far more vigorous than in others. Though 

the discussion is really not new, we are still facing a worldwide discrepancy in anti-doping legislation. We also have to globally promote coordinated anti-doping legislation as a response to counter 

the threat of cheating. There are several efforts on the political 

stage. I know a variety of international declarations and resolutions targeting the protection of integrity and good governance in 

sport. 

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s continue this fight. Let’s do our very 

best for the sake of the clean athletes. It’s really time to act. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. BURGESS. Thank you, Representative Freitag. 

Mr. Walden, were you planning on giving an opening statement? 

Can I ask you to suspend for one moment, and we’ve been joined 

by Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and did you wish to give an opening statement? 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. I will go after him, Mr. Chairman. Thank you 

so very much. 

Mr. BURGESS. OK. All right. Mr. Walden, please proceed. 

Mr. WALDEN. Chairman Smith, Representative Jackson Lee—let 

me turn my mic on so you can hear me. 

Mr. BURGESS. Good plan. 

JIM WALDEN, PARTNER, WALDEN MACHT & HARAN LLP AND 

ATTORNEY FOR DR. GRIGORY RODCHENKOV 

Mr. WALDEN. Thank you very much for having me here. I’ve been 

honored to consult with the Helsinki Commission during the draftVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
15

ing of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2018. I know, because I 

spoke to him just today, that Dr. Rodchenkov very much wishes 

that circumstances were different, and he could be here with you. 

But he wanted me to make sure to convey his deep gratitude for 

the meeting he had with you, for the seriousness with which this 

committee has taken this subject, and for your leadership against 

doping fraud. 

So let’s be clear. When we talk about doping, the commission is 

absolutely right to consider this doping fraud. It’s doping fraud because you heard the words from Ms. Uhlaender, who was defrauded from her medal. The IOC doesn’t give purse money for 

medals, but many countries—including the United States—does. 

And Ms. Uhlaender could not qualify for a U.S. purse because she 

was cheated from her medal. Ms. Uhlaender cannot get lucrative 

endorsements because she was cheated of her medal. And sponsoring corporations put millions of dollars into sponsoring the 

Olympics. They all have anti-doping provisions in their endorsement contracts and they are defrauded as well. I don’t need to tell 

this commission that these frauds matter. 

Who should be protecting against all of this criminality? Unfortunately, as we’ve heard from other panelists, that job has fallen to 

weak self-policing by the International Olympic Committee and 

other international federations that have neither the tools nor, 

frankly, the will to address the long-standing and well-known problem. In fact, some of them are conspirators themselves. Dr. 

Rodchenkov disclosed that Russia paid hundreds of thousands of 

dollars in bribe money to the International Biathlon Union in order 

to cover up Russian doping. That evidence, together with other evidence, has now led to a major investigation, headed by criminal authorities in Germany, Austria, and Norway. And the head of the 

IBU has now been forced to step down. 

But, thankfully, even though we’ve been faced by weak-kneed responses by the IOC and other international federations, other countries have stepped into the breach, passing their own anti-doping 

laws and creating criminal penalties. Italy, Austria, France, and recently Germany have been leaders. And, frankly, the Austrians 

have been extremely aggressive, convicting two top sports managers and one team doctor for engaging in a doping conspiracy. But 

I certainly agree with the Helsinki Commission that the time is 

now for the U.S. to enter into a leadership position. 

And it’s not merely because doping victimizes athletes like Ms. 

Uhlaender and corporations—although that’s reason enough to 

pass this bill. It is because doping fraud is just another mechanism 

for global animosity toward the United States and, more importantly, the affliction of widespread criminality because, as Ms. 

Freitag said, doping fraud is just one part of the criminal bundle 

that you get with doping fraud. You get racketeering. You get drug 

dealing. You get bribery. And you get other forms of corruption, including most recently hacking which, as you know, Fancy Bear inflicted not just on athletes, but on WADA itself during WADA’s investigation, and leaking information that they thought would help 

Russia. 

Now, there are some in our government who refuse to confront 

Russia for its abject criminality. But simple decency compels us to 

16

enhance and enforce legal rights and remedies to protect clean athletes. After all, doping fraud is just one more export of the gangster 

state that Vladimir Putin has created in Russia. And despite the 

fact that the world has not stood up to the well-documented and 

well-known crimes of the Russian Federation, thankfully the Helsinki Commission has. And this bill gives American prosecutors, 

clean athletes, and whistleblowers the tools that they need to protect the rest of us from these evils. 

Quite clearly then, the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act fills a very 

important void, giving the Department of Justice long-armed jurisdiction for the first time to do what other laws and regulations simply can’t do. And of special note, making retaliation against whistleblowers in sports a criminal offense, and affording them remedies through civil process, is simply a game changer. It will allow 

other whistleblowers to come forward so that other acts of corruption can be exposed to the sanitizing rays of sunlight. 

If the commission will, to close, I’d like to read a short statement 

directly from Dr. Rodchenkov that he gave me this morning: 

‘‘Again, I wish to apologize to the world for my part in the Russian state-sponsored doping system. During the time I ran the Moscow lab, my orders came from the top of the Russian Federation. 

Putin said, Russia must win at any cost, and the Sports Ministry 

executed that command by substantially improving our ability to 

administer performance-enhancing drugs in secret. To refuse to go 

along would have been a death sentence. I hope that my difficult 

decision to come forward and tell the truth will lead to continuing 

reforms. I believe the Helsinki Commission’s leadership is critical. 

And I fully support the proposed legislation. I am humbled and 

grateful that the bill is named after me. And I hope I can continue 

to be a force for good.’’

Thank you. 

Mr. BURGESS. Thank you, Mr. Walden. Please convey our thanks 

to Dr. Rodchenkov as well. 

And we’re pleased to recognize Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. 

HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON 

SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. 

Today, more than any other day, I’m pleased to be a Helsinki 

Commissioner and to respond to the call that is an international 

call, but it is a call for humanity. I’m delighted to join Dr. Burgess 

in co-sponsoring legislation named after Rodchenkov and his years 

of, I would say, pain, without him knowing it, and now his effort 

to remedy, to fix, to make amends, to have a reformational change. 

I want to acknowledge the witnesses first, before I begin. Thank 

you, Jim Walden, for indicating Russia’s place in all of this, and 

reading the doctor’s letter that indicated that Russia believed they 

must win no matter what, and for those who refused it was a death 

sentence. Maybe even those in the clinic or lab, but as well maybe 

even the athletes. It is important to take note of Mr. Tygart, who 

represents us on the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. We thank you for 

your service. 

And, again, thank you to Katie Uhlaender for, first of all, representing your nation and doing the very best that you could. For 

17

us, you are a medal winner. And thank you for being here today. 

Let me thank Yuliya Stepanova, who doped and has now come forward to admit, along with her husband, that she is part of the reformation of international athletics, and certainly the Olympics. 

And I thank you to Ms. Freitag, I believe, for the words that you 

have offered us by saying that we have to get even stronger on 

these issues. 

It is amazing. I think everyone sitting here—my colleagues, our 

Senate colleagues—everyone considers themselves a sports aficionado. And even if they did not play, they take on the armor or the 

image of athletes who are performing. Sometimes professional 

sports was—many of you know, I’m sure you’ve seen video of Americans looking at their professional sports team—but then, of course, 

there is a special love for our amateur athletics, because there’s a 

sense of patriotism and sacrifice that these young people make. 

So doping fraud is a crime in which big money, state assets and 

transnational criminals are involved and honest athletes and sponsors are defrauded and abused. Nowhere is this clearer than in the 

Russian doping scandal, where agents of Russia’s FSB, the successor of the Soviet KGB, and other state agencies colluded to systematically cheat the Olympics over the years. That’s why I am 

pleased to join Dr. Burgess in the legislation that we’ve introduced. 

As discussed in the Oscar-winner documentary, ‘‘Icarus,’’ they did 

this to shore up support for Putin’s kleptocratic regime, which 

steals in Russia and spends in the West, all while engaging in acts 

of blatant aggression against its neighbors. 

Athletes caught up in doping fraud stand to lose out not only on 

their life’s ambition, but also on the prize money and sponsorships 

that sustain their livelihood. Because I’m a strong supporter of 

young people no matter what country they’re in, I would offer to 

say that athletes, if left to their own devices, want to be honest and 

competitive. And so I consider in some instances the Russian athletes as victims as well. We need to help the whole international 

arena. 

Take the case of Alysia Montano, a U.S. runner who competed 

in the 2012 summer Olympics. She finished fifth, with two Russian 

women in the first and third. These women were later found to 

have engaged in doping fraud by the World Anti-Doping Agency, 

WADA, which means that Ms. Montano had rightfully finished 

third. She would have medaled. She estimates that doping fraud 

cost her maybe half a million dollars, if you look at rollovers and 

bonuses. And that’s without outside sponsorship maybe coming in. 

She adds, ‘‘That’s not why you’re doing it, but you still deserve it.’’

Then there is the simple emotional aspect of being told, only 

years later, that you were cheated out of your victory. In the case 

of a U.S. bobsledder, Steve Holcomb, he was not even around to see 

it, having died before his two medals were upgraded from bronze 

to silver. His teammate, Steve Langton, commented: It’s definitely 

a little bittersweet that Holcomb isn’t here to see this happening. 

He worked hard, and he earned those medals. It would have been 

very nice if he had a chance to enjoy them. 

I’m grateful to have Katie Uhlaender here with us today. And I 

appreciate your story. I’m also grateful for Ms. Stepanova, and Mr. 

Walden as well. We thank Ms. Stepanova for her bravery. And 

18

again, as I indicated earlier, I hope that many more Russian athletes—but I know that they too might be considered victims. And 

we hope that your courage will allow them to come forward. We 

thank the doctor for the work that he has done, and Mr. Walden 

for the work that you have done with him. He is a courageous individual. He is whistleblowing—his whistleblowing has strengthened 

the global fight against corruption in international sport and elsewhere. We hope our legislation will be an anchor in the United 

States to protect him. 

We hope that many others who know the ins and outs of Putin’s 

corrupt system will come forward. We thank you for acknowledging 

the Helsinki Commission. In our last visit to the Helsinki Commission international meeting in Berlin, Germany—I can assure you 

that the U.S. delegation was very strong on these issues, among 

others. But certainly countries from around the world were aware 

of the work we need to do in this area. 

My fellow commissioners and I have set out to stop the injustices 

occurring to athletes and to protect whistleblowers with the 

Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act—hoping I’ve gotten his name somewhat close. This long overdue piece of legislation establishes criminal penalties and civil remedies for a doping fraud at major international competitions. It also prohibits retaliation against whistleblowers. And it is unfortunate that such legislation has become 

necessary. But I would say that it’s vital that it pass as soon as 

possible. International sports bodies have proven time and again 

that they’re not adequately able to investigate and deter doping 

fraud. I hope we give them a green light—and maybe a red light 

to stop what they are doing, and a green light to make changes. 

Doping fraud should matter to any sports fan and anyone who 

cares about fair play. I welcome the fact that we are having this 

hearing. I hope that this will be an inspiration to the House and 

the Senate to pass this legislation as quickly as possible. 

I do want to make one point on the record, and that is that we 

know that there is an opinion piece that has circulated that offers 

an individual’s perspective on Dr. Rodchenkov. I would only say 

that most of what is in the opinion case is in the public forum, is 

in the documentary—which was well-received with many awards. 

It is a difficult journey for whistleblowers. Sometimes they do not 

get the flowers that they deserve. Every opinion writer has the 

right to express his or her opinion. That is the nature of our nation 

and the freedom of speech. But I am glad that we have a whistleblower who was willing to step in, maybe in jeopardy of his life. 

And I’m glad to be with Members of Congress who will step in and 

speak to Russia forthrightly and without fear, maybe where it has 

not been done in other spaces. 

So the opinion piece is there. Our work is continuing. And we are 

delighted to be able to move this legislation forward in a bipartisan 

manner. And I feel confident that we will work with our colleagues, 

and they will see the importance of this legislation to move it as 

quickly as possible. And I thank the chairman for yielding. And I 

thank you, Dr. Burgess, for joining us on this legislation. 

Thank you. 

Mr. BURGESS. I want to thank the gentlelady from Texas. And, 

again, thanks to our witnesses for being here today. 

19

We’ll move into the interactive portion of the hearing, the question and answer. Let me turn first to Chairman Smith for questions. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Chairman. I appreciate it, Dr. Burgess. 

Thank you, again, for your tremendous testimonies and your 

courage to be here. But, more importantly, to raise your voices 

knowing that especially back in Russia there is a retaliation. And 

so we’re all very grateful for your willingness to be so candid and 

upfront here in Washington. 

Let me just ask a couple of questions. So much of your testimony 

anticipated, I think, what we would want to know. And I thank you 

for the comprehensiveness of those testimonies. We all know that 

Lance Armstrong was tested like 250 times. And when he was detected he said it was inflammatory. And it somehow got out from 

under each and every time. The new drugs we believe were designer drugs, maybe you can elaborate on them—are they designed 

to be undetectable? And if you could just tell us what those drugs 

are, how they work, and how do they become undetectable? And 

are there strategies to surface them and make them detectable so 

that in a very systematic way we can know whether or not they’re 

being taken? 

What are the risks to athletes who take these drugs in the short, 

intermediate, and long term? We know that in the past there’s 

been much talk about suicide, heart attacks, miscarriages, children 

who suffer disabilities. Chemicals are a dangerous thing when 

they’re not used properly or when they carry agents or substances 

that have a very deleterious long-term effect. Could you elaborate, 

if you would, on what the individual athlete experience is? How 

they’re out of the limelight, how they have to suffer in private as 

they get sick. 

And if I could ask Ms. Freitag, if you would—I mentioned Xue 

Yinxian earlier. She is the one who exposed about 10,000 athletes, 

in her estimation, in China who were part of the state-run doping 

process. She sought asylum in Germany last year. We know she 

hasn’t gotten it yet. Do you have any insights or if you could check 

into that to see if she could, again, receive that asylum so she could 

be protected? 

And finally, in the spirit of the Magnitsky Act, which we have 

pushed very hard in this commission, I’m always worried about the 

athlete who is not drugging, who is part of a national team, who 

then gets blacklisted and cannot participate because she or he is 

part of a team that has coaches and others who are doing the 

wrong thing. And along those veins, should they be allowed to participate if they are indeed clean? And also, what about the coaches? 

I mean, that’s where you really throw the book at them, and all 

the bureaucrats in the government level who have committed these 

crimes and, again, caused people to not win where they would have 

won who are not doping—and we heard riveting testimony on that. 

So if you could speak to that, whether or not a Magnitsky approach 

needs to be looked at here even more where we go after the perpetrators and the abusers, but hold harmless those who are athletes, in this case, who have not doped? 

Mr. TYGART. Was that directed at me, sir? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. Anyone who’d like to go first. Please go ahead. 

20

Mr. TYGART. Yes, well, I’ll take a couple and then defer to you 

all as well. Yes, listen, I think as far as new drugs on the market, 

athletes who want to cheat and have no moral compass and will 

willingly go down that path want to find the cheapest drug that 

will maximize performance and reduce the chance they get caught. 

And so as pharmaceutical companies continue to put drugs on the 

market, we at USADA and anti-doping have to ensure that our 

tests are able to——

Mr. SMITH. And what are those drugs? 

Mr. TYGART. Peptides right now. Very serious problem. We’ve got 

amendments to the Controlled Substance Act that we’re trying to 

push through that will deal with SARMs, selective androgen receptor modulators, which you can walk into a sports nutrition store 

and buy right now. They ought to be controlled. They’re not legal 

in the United States. They’re going through the NDA process. And 

they’re just as potent, if not more effective, for building muscle 

mass as any other drug. We can test for them, so I don’t worry that 

our elite athletes are using them. I worry that kids, frankly, are 

using them, and parents are walking into nutrition stores to buy 

them to give to their kids to make them better. And they will make 

them better, there’s no doubt about it. And the toxic side effects 

that those have are also very concerning. 

On the Magnitsky Act, I’m glad you raised that. I think in addition to some of the other concepts we’ve talked about here today, 

and assume will talk about further, an easy amendment to the 

Magnitsky Act, excuse me, would be to ensure that it encompasses 

the type of corruption that we’re talking about here. Now, we believe there’s an argument it currently does, and that many of those 

that perpetrated this fraud could be listed under the current test 

of the Magnitsky Act. But a simple thing would be to make it really clear, that if you corrupt international sport from a doping 

standpoint, doping fraud standpoint, then there’s a mechanism already in existence where we could add those people to the 

Magnitsky Act. 

Mr. SMITH. If you would yield for one second—Magnitsky is 

about gross violations of human rights. I was talking about a 

Magnitsky-like approach, where those athletes who are not in any 

way, shape, or form doping get blackballed and cannot be part of 

the team, because they have been summarily told: That team does 

not participate. I’m thinking of those Russian athletes who may not 

be doping. I mean, should they be broad brushed, and so they 

should not participate either? 

Mr. TYGART. Yes, listen, I think the system has to be held to account. And when it’s so ingrained in the system, it’s unfair on the 

balancing test whose rights are more important—the clean athlete 

from a country competing against a clean athlete from a country 

where we don’t know whether or not they participated for sure in 

the system. You have to tip to the clean athlete from a country that 

had no system in place, I think. That said, certainly an individual 

assessment—which several of the sport federations have done—is 

a fair way to resolve that particular case. We would say to those 

clean athletes certainly we’re compassionate for them, care for 

them. We would hope they would take the steps like Dr. 

Rodchenkov has done and like Yuliya has done to stand up and 

21

fight against their system, to ensure that the system is dismantled 

from within as best as we possibly can. 

Mr. SMITH. You know, and on these designer drugs, the new 

ones, does anybody have a clue as to how—what the consequences 

are to the athlete, particularly long term, intermediate term? 

Mr. TYGART. Yes and no. I mean, many are manufactured overseas, and come in through supplements where 90 percent of the ingredients are coming from Asia, and the quality control is not very 

good. The NDA that I mentioned earlier on SARMs, Ostarine, 

we’ve talked to the developer of that. And at certain doses, it’s 

highly toxic. And it’s why we think it should be put on the controlled substance act as quick as we possibly can, to ensure that 

it’s off store shelves and can’t be reasonably bought as a fraudulent 

supplement, as it’s currently being sold as. 

Mr. SMITH. Katie, did you want to speak? 

Ms. UHLAENDER. Oh, I was wanting to comment on your question 

of what to do about the athletes in Russia that may not be doping. 

And I would hope there would be some. However, from my perspective, having dedicated 15 years of my life to the Olympic movement, I signed up for the best testing possible. And the USADA 

does a fantastic job of regulating us. And until this instance came 

up, I had no idea that other nations did not follow the same processes. And I think that this highlights the instability of the enforcement of the rules that are out there. And this is where you 

guys, the leaders of our nations, can come in, as well as looking to 

Germany and what they’ve established, and how we rise those 

rules up and make them enforceable. 

I mean, I guess they tried. But, again, there was so much evidence presented and nothing was done. And to your point, those 

athletes that may not be doping had to either walk away from the 

sport or risk their lives. That’s an infringement not just on the athletes who are clean, but also the ones that were forced to dope. 

I’m concerned, and I think many athletes are, for the protection 

of our rights, not just doping, but who’s going to protect the state 

from abusing power? And I think that there are multiple reasons 

why the systems and processes that Germany is establishing could 

be a good model for us all. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. 

Ms. Freitag? 

Mr. BURGESS. Would the chairman yield to me for one moment? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, of course. 

Mr. BURGESS. And I was intrigued because Ms. Stepanova’s testimony referenced a compound that I was not familiar with, 

Turinabol. 

So through the miracle of ‘‘Dr. Google,’’ I Googled it and, oh, my 

gosh, the website that came up, the stuff you can buy, Chairman, 

it is absolutely unbelievable. And this compound was one that was 

actually used by East Germans back in 1962. And it had very potent anabolic muscle-building activities, but limited androgenic or 

male hormone activities, which is one of the reasons that it was so 

ideal for this purpose. 

I thank you for bringing that to our attention. I mean, I had no 

idea that that was even out there. And now I’ve opened up an enVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
22

tirely new world and probably alerted the NSA to the fact that I’m 

purchasing bodybuilding steroids. 

But thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ll yield back to you. 

Mr. SMITH. Ms. Freitag. 

Ms. FREITAG. Yes. Thank you. I would like to give a few remarks 

about the consequences of doping. You already mentioned German 

experiences, especially in the former GDR. In the early 1960s, they 

started a state-run doping program. And up to today, we in reunified Germany now are facing the consequences of the state doping 

programs. 

We passed a special law in order to give some financial support 

to those victims of doping in the former GDR because we have, 

more or less, Gepler’s [ph] recording of what the athletes were administered. They wrote down everything, so we know a lot about 

it. 

But what I do not want to forget to mention, many of those 

former athletes died an early death. Many of them are facing severe health problems. And the worst case you really can imagine 

happened to a young female shot putter named Heidi Krieger. She 

was administered so many male anabolic steroids like testosterone 

and things, so today he lives as Andreas Krieger. 

It’s simply impossible to understand what happened to that 

young woman due to those people who did not care for everything 

they did to that young woman. And Andreas Krieger today is one 

of the best witnesses of what doping can affect to young bodies, be 

it female or male young athletes. 

And another question was about the coaches. Yes, I think we 

have to look at the whole entourage of the athletes. It’s not only 

the coaches. It’s medical doctors, of course. It’s the dealers who provide them with doping substances. And our German anti-doping 

legislation also focuses on the entourage of the athletes. It’s not 

only the athletes that are in the focus. And I think it’s important 

to point out that they are responsible at least as much as the athlete who says yes or no. 

You see, in Western democracies, athletes more or less have the 

chance to say no. But in authoritarian states, I think—and I think 

Yuliya can say more about it—you don’t really have a choice. Otherwise, you will have to finish your career. That’s my impression. 

Mr. SMITH. And if you could, please check into the Chinese athletes. 

Ms. FREITAG. Honestly, not really. We know, of course, about 

people. 

Mr. SMITH. No, no, would you check into Xue who is seeking asylum in Germany? 

Ms. FREITAG. Pardon? 

Mr. SMITH. If you could check into the woman who is seeking 

asylum for being a whistleblower in the People’s Republic of China. 

And if she were to be forcibly repatriated, she’d go right to prison. 

Ms. FREITAG. Well, that’s typical for states like that. Whenever 

those people reenter their home countries, they will have to face severe consequences. I think, yes, I understand. 

Mr. SMITH. The appeal is that she obtains asylum in Germany 

where she has applied for it. That would be our appeal to you. 

23

Ms. FREITAG. Yes, you are right. I am sorry, I didn’t understand 

the word. 

Mr. WALDEN. And, Mr. Chairman, if I may just contextualize one 

thing. I certainly share your concern about clean athletes. And certainly, I think, as the commission well knows, Dr. Rodchenkov’s 

testimony was actually very important in exonerating two Russian 

athletes that were initially suspected of participating in the statesponsored doping system, but ultimately were determined not to. 

The difficulty in this case is Russia’s intransigence. I mean, after 

the first report came out from the World Anti-Doping Agency, they 

put a roadmap in place, they put a path to Russia rejoining the 

world community. And it wasn’t a complicated path. All they had 

to do was to give WADA access to their lab and turn over the 

backup data for their computers and turn over whatever stored 

samples they had. And so if there were a tremendous number of 

clean Russian athletes, you would think that Russia would be very 

happy to cooperate. Well, we’re now 2 years later and Russia still 

refuses to do what it needs to do to comply with the roadmap, including simply admit that the allegations, as Ms. Uhlaender said 

is as plain as the nose on anyone else’s face, just simply admit that 

they’re true. 

And so, in a system where they’re committed to lying, they’re 

committed to deception, they’re committed to gangsterism, it’s very 

difficult for outside folks to help them protect their own clean athletes, assuming some still exist. 

Ms. UHLAENDER. To add to that, I feel like this is a moment in 

history that’s important. Because in this respect, drawing a line 

will actually create unity. And I think from what I can observe, 

Russia is a culture in which they would respect that. But until we 

draw that line, they’re going to continue to push the limits as we’ve 

seen in multiple areas from their culture. So, again, I thank you 

for this opportunity and I ask—us as athletes, all of us, we’re asking for your help. 

So thank you. 

Mr. BURGESS. Thank you, Chairman Smith. 

I recognize the gentlelady from Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee, 

for your questions. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me ask, Mr. Walden, in your representation, how devastating is the impact of doping on the losers? Meaning that an athlete wins who has doped, but behind those winners 

are losers who have much invested—their lives, years of training, 

expectations. What have you seen? 

Mr. WALDEN. Well, I would say that Ms. Uhlaender is probably 

in a much better position than me from my limited vantage point. 

First of all, I just want to say, again, how grateful we are to both 

Representative Burgess and Representative Jackson Lee for sponsoring this very important bill. 

But this obviously ruins lives. I mean, your comments before 

about putting aside the financial rewards, which are a distant second for the athletes to being deprived of the moment on the podium 

only to find out that you were cheated all along. And in the case 

of Ms. Uhlaender, having essentially been robbed twice. I give her 

an incredible amount of respect and admiration that she still wants 

to go on and win and win and win for the United States. 

24

So your question is a perfect one. And I hope it’s one that every 

single representative and senator asks themselves. How many devastated American athletes were there after not just the Sochi game 

results were disclosed, because it wasn’t just Sochi, it was London, 

it was Beijing? This has been going on since 1968 in Russia. And 

so this bill is critical in order to save the next generation of not 

just U.S. athletes, but athletes from clean countries that same devastation. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. You set up Katie very well. I just wanted to 

know, from your perspective, but I would like to hear from you on 

that question of how devastating it is, so people can understand 

and be on the record what the depth of commitment an athlete has 

to make to even get to the Olympics or any competition. 

Ms. UHLAENDER. Honestly, it’s intangible and indefinable to communicate what that is in words. But I dedicated 15 years of my life, 

and all of my adult life to sport. But I feel blessed that my father 

gave me something to hold onto, which are principles and virtue 

that helped me to understand that the glory is in my efforts and 

in that I’ll represent my country and the people supporting me and 

God as well. So I try to hold onto that and remember that everything I do I’ll earn. And then by continuing a path focused on those 

goals, so I can inspire others to pursue excellence. 

But I’m left with hope, hope that by doing so I can inspire others 

to stand up and define a line that would prevent someone else from 

losing an Olympic medal, and in my case twice, the same medal. 

There are no words really to describe what it feels like to lose the 

opportunity once every 4 years to stand on the podium and say 

thank you to the people that have supported me, that believed in 

me, that helped me get there, see my flag raised and have that moment to show them it was—I’m sorry, I’m getting emotional. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. That’s all right. That’s all right. 

Ms. UHLAENDER. It’s a platform that is rare. And I feel like I 

missed the opportunity to inspire others to pursue excellence and 

show my country how proud I am to represent them and how grateful I was to have that opportunity. That medal, in my opinion, 

wasn’t mine. My glory is in my effort, honestly, and that was my 

opportunity to say thank you and earn something for what I believe our nation stands for. 

The Olympics inspire a virtuous character because it holds its 

participants to a higher standard than any other arena and it 

keeps it more pure—at least that’s what I grew up believing in. 

And in that, that self-belief that it develops and the virtue, is 

something that could create American heroes, people that are dedicated to their passions and avoiding mediocrity. It exemplifies the 

best of humanity. 

And this scandal ruined all of those beliefs. It struck out the 

Olympic flame. And I’m hoping that with these discussions and the 

leadership of our country that we can help relight it. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. That was worthy of listening to you for a 

longer period of time. And forgive us if we’ve struck an emotional 

chord. You’ve struck an emotional chord in all of us. And those 

words will be very vital to our colleagues to try to understand. 

Let me just ask, how soon after the Olympics were you made 

aware of the doping influence, in both instances? 

25

Ms. UHLAENDER. That answer is somewhat complicated in that 

in the season of 2015–16, in December, I was informed that Russia 

had destroyed over 1,600 samples when WADA had attempted to 

collect information at their lab. And I was in disbelief because I 

was naı ̈ve. I was sure that the big people would take care of it because integrity is what we all believe in, that’s the Olympic spirit. 

And then when The New York Times revealed the depth of the 

conspiracy, the lengths that the country went to ensure that they 

would win, my heart literally broke, because not just me, but all 

of my competitors in that race can never get that moment back. We 

dedicated our lives to that moment, to fair competition. And I have 

to say there is nothing more exhilarating than the best in the 

world standing up to the line and just saying ‘‘see you at the bottom.’’

But to know that that competition was tainted, to know that it 

was not what any of us thought it was, and then on top of that the 

evidence and everything that had happened had been presented 

and there was nothing done about it. So I found out about it in 

2015. I was temporarily a bronze medalist from November 2017 to 

February 2018. And now I’m back to fourth. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. You are a remarkable young woman, and 

thank you so very much. 

Let me just, if I might, Mr. Chairman, indulge Ms. Stepanova. 

If I could ask you a question. Thank you for being here. I think 

you have heard Ms. Uhlaender’s comments. And we are appreciative of your presence. And so, would you share with us the importance of leaders stopping doping, cleaning up competition? And 

how much pressure are on Russian athletes or other athletes to 

participate in doping? 

Thank you so much for being here. 

Ms. STEPANOVA. In Russia, I believe there is a culture of doping. 

Russian athletes all believe that all athletes around the world use 

prohibited substances. They believe you cannot achieve a medal 

without prohibited substances. 

Nobody pushes you physically to use prohibited substances, it’s 

more social, psychological. When I started to compete, I started to 

hear about prohibited substances from other athletes. And my 

coach told me many stories how when he was an athlete, he used 

prohibited substances. And it was, like, people all around me spoke 

to me only about prohibited substances, about how they were the 

way to prepare for winning medals, not about other ways, like 

other ways don’t exist. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Did you know it was illegal or wrong? Was 

there any discussion in Russia that it was wrong, it was unfair? 

And did they tell you that everyone in the world used it, or you 

knew that other people did not? 

Ms. STEPANOVA. When I was in Russia, I only met athletes who 

used on the Russian team. I didn’t meet any clean athlete who 

could say that ‘‘I never used and I got this medal because I never 

used.’’ And Russian athletes, they don’t feel like they’re doing 

something wrong because they believe all athletes around the 

world do the same. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Are you glad or do you believe we should stop 

doping and fix it around the world? 

26

Ms. STEPANOVA. From my experience, when I was in Russia, I 

also believed that all athletes used it, because of what I saw 

around me, I only saw athletes who were using. But when I decided to try to and fight it with my husband and I started to meet 

athletes from other countries, I started to meet clean athletes and 

I started to believe yes, clean athletes exist. And I’m glad that I 

have enough courage to tell the truth because it’s not easy to tell 

truth about yourself, about how I cheated. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Well, your courage is, as well, amazing and 

powerful. We thank you. We hope—and my last question to you, 

and just one more question, Mr. Chairman, to the representative 

from Germany—but I want to let you know how much we appreciate it. And do you think we could ever get Russia to stop doping 

in its athletic programs? 

Ms. STEPANOVA. I hope, but I know it’s not easy. It’s not easy to 

change minds. It should be started from the top, because if it started from the top and they’d start to really fight this doping, athletes 

would stop doping. I believe it. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. If Mr. Putin had a different attitude and expressed that nationally, it would stop. 

Ms. STEPANOVA. Yes, I think so. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you for your courage. 

Ms. Freitag, there is an important point in the bill about protecting whistleblowers in the legislation. And I want to know from 

you how important that is in highlighting doping around the world 

if we, the United States, has in its legislation protecting whistleblowers and how much we should try to push such legislation internationally. 

Ms. FREITAG. Thank you for the question. I think protecting 

whistleblowers belongs to the most important points in the whole 

case. Without people like Yuliya and her husband or Mr. 

Rodchenkov, we would not know, we by far would not know enough 

about the state-run doping system in Russia. And they were the 

ones who started to reveal it. There were journalists from Germany, from Great Britain as well who worked into the case. But 

without those whistleblowers, we wouldn’t know what we have to 

know. 

And we only can fight doping successfully if we know as much 

as possible. And that is why the protection of whistleblowers worldwide is an important issue. And that is why I support the proposed 

bill because, among others, it focuses on that. 

And maybe allow me one or two more remarks to your question 

No. 1, the impact of doping on the loser. Of course, I cannot say 

it so emotionally like Katie because she had the personal impact, 

but from my time in the German Athletics Federation, I have had 

many conversations with athletes who got their medals maybe 10, 

12 years later. Some of them found their medals in the mailbox 

without anything. 

We have a German shot putter, a female German shot putter 

who told me she had been upgraded 13 times, not only to the 

medal rings, but maybe from positions, seven to five or so. But 13 

times, imagine what that means for an athlete. 

I would have lost all the motivation to go on competing. And 

these athletes are the ones we as politicians should fight for. We 

27

should do it together and we should do it on our national levels. 

And then we can encourage young people to do top-level sports. 

Otherwise, why should they do that if the fear to be cheated is so 

big that you say what should I do that for? We need those national 

heroes as role models for our young people, but they must have a 

chance to reach their goal, the Olympic dream, like Katie said. 

Thank you. 

Mr. BURGESS. And thank you for your time and questions. I’m 

going to have to draw your time to a close. I’ve got a House Rules 

Committee that’s coming up very, very quickly. 

Ms. JACKSON LEE. I just want to thank you very much and also 

indicate we should work without ceasing to get the legislation 

passed. 

Thank you very much. 

Mr. BURGESS. Yes. There actually are a couple of questions that 

I would like to get in. 

And we’ve heard, of course, about Russia. And Chairman Smith 

brought up China, and East Germany in the 1960s, so other countries have been involved. So what are the signs and symptoms that 

a country is involved in this? Are there are any tripwires that 

should have been evident to other members of perhaps the International Olympic Committee that this requires additional scrutiny? 

It does seem a little unfair to push it all off onto the athletes. So 

does anybody have any thoughts on that? 

Yes, Mr. Tygart? 

Mr. TYGART. Two points. First—and it’s not related directly to 

that question, but I’ll come back to that—while we sit here and listen to athletes who have been abused by a state-run doping system, hear the obvious emotional story and heartfelt feelings from 

someone whose dream’s been crushed, the corporations, 8 of the 13 

for the United States, are the top sponsors of the International 

Olympic Committee paying $25 million each. And the sport leaders 

who oversaw this program are not here. We need to hold them accountable. We hear crickets from them and that’s something that 

we should seriously address. 

Mr. BURGESS. But let me ask you: Is there some indication, some 

sign or symptom that those groups should see as a red flag that 

there is a problem here? 

Mr. TYGART. If someone, if a country is winning, you look at Russia’s 2010 winter games placement at seventh and then immediately went to number one at home in 2014, all of us said this is 

not being done by athletic skill alone. 

Mr. BURGESS. Okay. 

Mr. TYGART. So you can go down the list of winners in countries, 

and it’s a generality, and look at those countries, and we’ve done 

it. Who are running effective programs to ensure athletes from 

those countries are showing up at those international games? 

Mr. BURGESS. All right, that’s valuable. Thank you. 

Katie, you wanted to say something? 

Ms. UHLAENDER. Yes. I just attended the executive board meeting of WADA and the Global Athlete Forum with them. And they 

recently developed the CRC, which is the Compliance Review Committee, where they have created standards that all international 

federations and countries are meant to stand by. 

28

And I think—did USADA have a part in that? 

I think that the USADA and Germany, like other nations, are 

following those rules. And right now, it’s a matter of finding a way 

to get all of the nations to be compliant. 

And I think Travis has a great idea. If we have governments on 

the board instead of sport leaders, it would eliminate the conflict 

of interest. There are rules and policies in place that seem like they 

would work. And the CRC would be transparent, open to the public, making recommendations to the board through another independent investigations committee. 

And I think right now, from my objective perspective, I would 

just want to know if it’s possible for our government to get involved 

or others to make it enforceable and actually create unity that the 

Olympics are meant to, instead of having individual sports, as 

Travis is pointing out, have investments with sponsors or other 

conflicting interests that have dollar signs as a priority over the 

movement. 

Mr. BURGESS. I think that’s what we’re going to find out. 

Yes, Mr. Walden? 

Mr. WALDEN. Yes, Representative Burgess, just to answer your 

question another way, WADA also publishes, and has since 2013, 

published yearly statistics of anti-doping rule violations. And if you 

look at that report, you can look at the top 10, there’s not a lot of 

movement in the top 10. I would say that wherever you’re in the 

top 10 of all nations, that is a huge red flag. 

For the last 3 years, Russia has been the leader in anti-doping 

rule violations by a wide margin, but there are some other countries in there that at least seem to have the earmarks of a systematic problem, whether or not they have a state-run doping system. 

Mr. BURGESS. Can you tell us those countries? 

Mr. WALDEN. I don’t want to. 

Mr. BURGESS. OK. 

Mr. WALDEN. I don’t have it off the top of my head and I don’t 

want to falsely accuse someone. Sorry. 

Mr. BURGESS. Fair enough, sure. I got it. 

Ms. UHLAENDER. I also competed in Olympic weightlifting. I competed in the 2012 Olympic trials and trained under Zygmunt 

Smalcerz, who is a 1972 Olympic champion. And he pointed out to 

me one day at training, you can go onto the Junior Olympic site 

where all weightlifting athletes are juniors and the number of athletes that were testing positive among certain countries was staggering. And that was also the aspect that scared me so much because those athletes could take a 4-year ban at 14 years old or at 

the Youth Games, even younger, and then come back and have a 

full career. But then after they’re done, when the state is done with 

them, athletes like those that Ms. Freitag encountered, are then 

dying early and facing severe health consequences for those actions 

that they didn’t fully understand when they were participating in 

them. 

I believe that there are statistics and data that we could collect. 

It’s just I think we need or—I’m not really a part of it, I’m a participant—but, like, the government could assist in data collection and 

analyzing it. 

29

Mr. BURGESS. Let me just ask you a question. I am a physician 

by background and, obviously, know about the intersection of the 

medical community with this. And I realize there are different jurisdictions in different countries, but surely there are some country 

or, in our case, state licensing boards, specialty societies. I mean, 

is there no accountability to the physicians that were involved in 

this? 

I mean, in Ms. Stepanova’s case, it almost sounds like child 

abuse. I mean, that seems punishable by criminal statute in this 

country. Am I missing something here? Is the medical community 

not allowed to step up, are they fearful of stepping up, or are they 

just a too-willing a participant here? 

Mr. TYGART. Well, I would just say, in the U.S., certainly, if we 

have jurisdiction over them and they participate and we have the 

evidence, we’ll bring cases. And that’s, you know, a key primary effort of ours to hold them accountable. And then we have also made 

referrals to the licensing boards in various states of doctors who 

knowingly participated in this type of behavior. 

But on an international scheme, of course, they can be held 

under the sport rules. But whether or not their own countries have 

those types of bodies that can withdraw their license is a question 

for each one of those countries, I think. 

Mr. BURGESS. Ms. Freitag? 

Ms. FREITAG. Yes, maybe an additional remark. In Germany, the 

medical doctors who take care of our athletes have to sign a special 

paper that they are deeply committed to clean sports. And every 

year, the sports federations have to report to the government about 

their efforts in the anti-doping fight. And whenever we as members 

of the sports community would have the feeling they are not complying to what we want them to do, we could reduce the amount 

of money, for example, they get from the state for their work. 

And I think this is very interesting. The medical doctors are a 

key toward clean or dirty sports. And yes, that is why we should 

have a look. And our legislation says, whenever a medical doctor 

is involved in doping cases, they will be punished as well. 

Mr. BURGESS. And I think that’s critical. I mean, you referenced 

those difficulties in East Germany in the early 1960s. 

And, Katie, obviously you’ve experienced some problems. 

But, Yuliya, oh, my gosh, I mean, your story is just beyond compelling. And I just can’t tell you how badly I feel for you and that 

that was administered at the hands of someone who had taken an 

oath only to heal. And they harmed you and that’s wrong. 

And I hope whatever else happens that the medical community 

acknowledges to the extent that there’s complicity in this and that 

they put a stop to it. I think it’s on them to do so. 

So you’ve all been very generous. It’s been really a very emotional afternoon. I appreciate you sharing with us. 

As you can see from the testimony of Ms. Jackson Lee and Mr. 

Smith, this is something that—to answer your question, Katie—

we’re going to find more out, we’re going to find out if we can do 

this. I was skeptical myself when it was brought to me. Can we 

even do this? But we will find out. 

30

And it is clearly important. And the commitment that exists now 

from having had this very powerful afternoon, it is even stronger, 

at least in this commissioner. 

So thank you very much. We’re going to stand in adjournment. 

There may be a few additional questions that the Helsinki Commission has for each of you as witnesses. And if you receive those 

questions, I would ask you to respond promptly. 

And thank you for your participation this afternoon. 

We’ll stand in adjournment. Thank you. 

Mr. TYGART. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 4:01 p.m., the hearing ended.] 

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A P P E N D I X

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PREPARED STATEMENTS

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

This hearing of the Helsinki Commission will come to order. 

Good afternoon and welcome to this Helsinki Commission hearing titled ‘‘The State of Play: Globalized Corruption, State-Run 

Doping, and International Sport.’’ I would like to thank Chairman 

Wicker for making this hearing possible. 

The Commission is mandated to monitor compliance with commitments freely undertaken by participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Given the size and 

scope of the Russian state-run doping program and the rampant 

corruption corroding the integrity of international sport, we are 

compelled to speak out and take action. 

In 2014, Ms. Yuliya Stepanova, who we are so pleased to have 

with us here today, appeared on German TV and blew the whistle 

on Russia’s state-run doping program. This led to the formation of 

an Independent Commission through the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, which investigated Ms. Stepanova’s claims and found 

that ‘‘a deeply-rooted culture of cheating’’ exists in Russia. The fallout of this report in Russia eventually led Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, 

fearing retaliation from Putin, to flee Russia for the United States, 

where he revealed an astonishing amount of data and detail on 

Russia’s state-run doping program, which he had accumulated 

while head of the Moscow anti-doping lab. 

A New York Times expose ́ laid bare the unprecedented extent 

and complexity of an illegal program that sought to swing a large 

number of international sports events in favor of the Russians. 

This was accomplished through an elaborate scheme, which involved numerous Russian state agencies, including the Russian 

Ministry of Sport and the FSB, the successor to the Soviet KGB. 

From 2011 to 2015, over 1000 Russian athletes in 30 sports benefited from this cover-up operation to the detriment of clean athletes. 

Putin himself ordered this state-run doping program in order to 

drum up support for oppression at home and aggression abroad. To 

him and his kleptocratic cronies, international sport is not a competition between skilled individuals, but rather a geopolitical tool, 

equal to their use of corruption, energy, and disinformation to influence other states and their own population. 

Those who attempt to challenge this state-run apparatus are 

fighting a losing battle. It is only thanks to whistleblowers like Ms. 

Stepanova and Dr. Rodchenkov that we have any idea of the enorVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
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mity of the Russian state-run doping operation. WADA, while it 

has done what it can, has a budget of $30 million a year and is 

going up against a well-funded state conspiracy. 

Moreover, after years of mounting evidence, the only significant 

action taken by the International Olympic Committee has been a 

suspension of Russia from the Pyeongchang Olympic Games, a suspension that has already been lifted. As The Economist has written, ‘‘WADA is wielding a knife in a highly-charged arms race. 

Even when it finds clear evidence of systematic doping, as it did 

in Russia, there is no guarantee that the IOC will act on it quickly 

and decisively.’’

Clearly, a new approach is needed to counter this method of authoritarian influence. That is why I, along with my fellow Commissioner from Texas, Ms. Jackson-Lee, have introduced the 

Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. This act would criminalize doping at 

international competitions that the United States participates in so 

as to provide a deterrent against those who would engage in doping 

fraud. It would put every Putin crony and doping facilitator on notice that their name may appear in a U.S. indictment should they 

attempt to defraud clean athletes. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we will hear testimony from a truly distinguished panel today who will provide invaluable insight into the 

state of international sport, what can be done to counter corruption 

and state-run doping, and recommendations for U.S. policy. 

We are particularly pleased to have with us today Mr. Travis 

Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, or USADA. Mr. 

Tygart has led USADA through some of its most impactful efforts 

to keep international sport free of doping. USADA has notably been 

instrumental in Operation Raw Deal—one of the largest international steroid busts in history—as well as the investigation of 

the BALCO labs conspiracy, in which the San Francisco lab supplied performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes. Mr. 

Tygart also led the Agency’s investigation in the U.S. Postal Service pro-cycling team doping conspiracy and spearheaded the publication of the Reasoned Decision in the Lance Armstrong case. 

Next, we will hear from Katie Uhlaender. Ms. Uhlaender is a 

U.S. Olympian and has won five medals at the International 

Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation. She has won three bronze medals, a silver medal, and, in 2012, a gold medal, winning her first 

Skeleton World Championship. She has also won the women’s Skeleton World Cup twice. Congratulations on your victories—we are 

grateful to have you represent our country in the Olympics. 

Following Katie, Yuliya Stepanova will share her experiences 

with us. Ms. Stepanova is a world-class Russian athlete and an 

anti-doping whistleblower. Vitaly Stepanov, her husband, is a 

former employee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency and witnessed 

firsthand the Russian state-run doping program. Ms. Stepanova 

bravely began collecting evidence by recording conversations with 

fellow athletes and coaches and uncovered large-scale doping fraud. 

Yuliya and her husband currently reside in the United States after 

receiving death threats. We thank you and your husband for your 

courage to speak out. 

After Yuliya, Dagmar Freitag, who we are very honored have 

with us today, will provide us her perspective from the German 

35

Bundestag. Ms. Freitag is the Chairwoman of the Sports Committee and is an expert in combating doping at both national and 

international levels. She has been a part of the Bundestag since 

1994 and became Chairwomen of the Sports Committee in 2009. 

Most recently, Ms. Freitag became the Deputy Chairwoman of the 

German-U.S. Parliamentary Friendship Group. Ms. Freitag, we are 

grateful for you being with us on this side of the Atlantic today. 

Finally, we will hear from Jim Walden, the attorney for Dr. 

Grigory Rodchenkov. Unfortunately, Dr. Rodchenkov himself is unable to be here with us today due to the ever-present threat of Russian retaliation against him. Jim Walden is a Partner at Walden 

Macht & Haran LLP. He participated in a Helsinki Commission 

briefing on the Russian state-run doping program back in February 

and has been a constant source of insight on these issues since. 

Thank you for being here and representing Dr. Rodchenkov. 

Thank you all for being with us this afternoon. Mr. Tygart, the 

floor is yours.

36

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CO-CHAIR- MAN, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this timely hearing.

International sport has become deeply tainted by corruption. 

Bribery, extortion, and drug trafficking have all become commonplace in the world of international sport—from the questionable integrity of the process of awarding major international competitions 

to illegal betting. state-run doping is the ultimate expression of this 

corruption. Encompassing all aspects of what is wrong with international sport, state-run doping programs cheat athletes out of 

their life’s work and their livelihoods, all to generate legitimacy for 

deeply oppressive systems.

As always, we are extremely grateful to whistleblowers for revealing these corrupt systems. Today, we have one of those whistleblowers with us—Yuliya Stepanova, who started the ball rolling on 

the revelations regarding the Russian state-run doping program. 

We also have Jim Walden here, who represents Dr. Grigory 

Rodchenkov—another courageous Russian whistleblower who revealed the wide breadth and convoluted nature of Russia’s scheme.

I would like to mention an additional whistleblower who is not 

here with us today—Dr. Xue Yinxian, a Chinese doctor who worked 

with China’s Olympic team throughout the 80s. At one point, she 

even served as the chief medical supervisor to the Chinese gymnastic team.

Dr. Xue claims that 10,000 athletes were involved in a Chinese 

state-run doping program during the 80s and 90s. They had to accept the drugs, she says, or ‘‘face punishment or criticism.’’ She 

adds, ‘‘If you refused to dope, you had to leave the team.’’ She has 

also discussed the abhorrent practice of doping young athletes—as 

young as eleven years old—resulting in devastating physical effects.

Given the extent of the program, she concludes that all medals 

won by China at this time should be returned. Like too many whistleblowers, she has been forced to flee her home for fear of retaliation. She has commented, ‘‘Anyone against doping damaged the 

country and anyone who endangered the country now sits in prison.’’ This is common in China where dissent against the state and 

truth-telling are not tolerated. Dr. Xue is now seeking asylum in 

Germany. As we are greatly honored to have Dagmar Freitag, a 

German Member of the Bundestag and Chairwoman of the 

Bundestag’s Sports Committee with us here today, I hope that you 

might be able to speak to where her asylum claim currently stands.

Despite having spoken out about Chinese state-run doping in 

2012, Dr. Xue’s allegations still have not been investigated by the 

37

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). I urge WADA to take all 

measures to investigate her claims as thoroughly as it investigated 

the claims of Dr. Rodchenkov. They certainly seem plausible. 

China, much like the Soviet Union and now Russia, has always 

viewed international sport as nothing more than a tool to demonstrate its status and awe its people into submission. It would not 

surprise me in the least to find that China had engaged in such 

practices or even that it still does.

The scourge of state-run doping around the world must be fought 

with the full force of the law. I look forward to hearing from our 

distinguished witnesses about how we can achieve this.

38

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, RANKING

MEMBER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this important hearing 

today. 

Russia uses all manner of asymmetrical tactics to achieve its 

goals across the world. As documented in the staff report of the 

Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Putin’s Asymmetric Assault 

on Democracy in Russia and Europe: Implication for U.S. National 

Security, Putin takes advantage of any opening he can find to push 

his anti-democratic agenda—by spreading disinformation, manipulating energy supplies, or, most dramatically, by invading its neighbors and then vehemently denying it. His ultimate goal is to undermine the liberal international order that has created such prosperity and replace it with a chaotic free-for-all where his autocracy 

is normalized. 

International sport, too, is viewed by Russia through the lens of 

asymmetrical influence. As far back as the Soviet Union, sport was 

viewed as a way to demonstrate the superiority of dictatorship over 

democracy. One need only look at Putin’s approval ratings pre- and 

post-Sochi Olympics to understand the value of athletic victory to 

autocrats—according to Gallup, prior to the Sochi Olympics, Putin’s 

approval was at 54%; after Russia appeared to win the most medals at the Sochi Olympics, it sprung up to 83%. 

In the Oscar-winning documentary Icarus, Dr. Rodchenkov states 

that he believes this high approval rating was part of the calculus 

that helped Putin feel secure in invading Ukraine. Today, we see 

Putin has attempted a similar feat by hosting the World Cup—once 

again exploiting international sport to justify authoritarianism. 

State-run doping is a way that Russia attempts to gain an asymmetrical advantage in international sport. Putin has put an astounding amount of resources into this corrupt scheme. Enlisting 

major intelligence assets and high-level cronies, Russia defrauded 

athletes for years, cheating them out of accomplishments they had 

been working their whole lives to achieve. 

This systematic doping is an expression of Russia’s 

weaponization of corruption. Putin uses corruption as a means to 

influence neighbors and keep his own population in check. It is no 

different for Russian athletes and international sports bodies. He 

seeks to trap all persons of influence in his corrupt web, making 

them beholden to him and enabling him to apply leverage as he 

sees fit. 

There are many ways that we can fight back against these tactics. We can build greater defenses against disinformation and 

cyber-attacks with our allies, diversify our energy sources, and 

sanction bad actors with tools such as the Global Magnitsky Act. 

We can also update our financial and legal architecture—including 

by criminalizing the very activities that Putin’s spooks engaged in 

to pursue their state-run doping program as proposed in the 

Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. Finally, we can encourage more whistleblowers to come forward and offer greater protections for them. 

Though Putin would like to imagine himself the savior of his 

country, whistleblowers like Ms. Stepanova and Dr. Rodchenkov 

are the true patriots of Russia. While Putin robs the Russian peoVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
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ple blind, whistleblowers expose the crimes of his regime. They do 

this under the threat of retaliation. The Kremlin has demonstrated 

time and again its willingness to pursue its political opponents 

across the world as it did most recently in the case of Sergei 

Skripal. It is abhorrent that whistleblowers must face such threats. 

But they must not be deterred. They are centrally important to the 

global struggle against Putin’s criminal regime. The world truly 

owes them a great debt. 

I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov here on 

Capitol Hill and was moved by his bravery. He was forced to wear 

a mask for fear of retaliation—a terrible tragedy necessary because 

of the very real threat to his life. I now have the honor to meet 

you, Ms. Stepanova, and thank you for joining us today. What you 

have done for international sport, for the rule of law globally, and 

for Russia cannot be overstated. 

I look forward to hearing what you, and all our honored guests, 

have to say.

40

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for holding this hearing. 

Doping fraud is a crime in which big money, state assets, and 

transnational criminals are involved and honest athletes and sponsors are defrauded and abused. Nowhere is this clearer than in the 

Russian doping scandal, where agents of Russia’s FSB, the successor to the Soviet KGB, and other state agencies colluded to systematically cheat the Olympics over years. As discussed in the 

Oscar-winning documentary Icarus, they did this to shore up support for Putin’s kleptocratic regime, which steals in Russia and 

spends in the west, all while engaging in acts of blatant aggression 

against its neighbors. 

Athletes caught up in doping fraud stand to lose out not only on 

their life’s ambition, but also on the prize money and sponsorships 

that sustain their livelihood. Take the case of Alysia Montan ̃ o, a 

U.S. runner who competed in the 2012 summer Olympics. She finished fifth place with two Russian women in first and third. These 

women were later found to have engaged in doping fraud by the 

World Anti-dDoping Agency (WADA), which means that Ms. 

Montan ̃ o had rightfully finished third. She estimates that doping 

fraud cost her ‘‘maybe half a million dollars, if you look at rollovers 

and bonuses, and that’s without outside sponsorship maybe coming 

in.’’ She adds, ‘‘That’s not why you’re doing it, but you still deserve 

it.’’

Then there is the simple emotional aspect of being told only 

years later that you were cheated out of your victory. In the case 

of U.S. bobsledder Steve Holcomb, he was not even around to see 

it. Having died before his two medals were upgraded from bronze 

to silver, his teammate Steve Langton commented, ‘‘It’s definitely 

a little bittersweet that Holcomb isn’t here to see this happening. 

He worked hard and he earned those medals. It would have been 

very nice if he had the chance to enjoy them.’’

I am very grateful to have Katie Uhlaender with us here today, 

who herself is a U.S. Olympian. I look forward to hearing your 

story about how doping fraud affected you and how it has affected 

international sport more generally. 

I am also grateful to have Yuliya Stepanova and Jim Walden 

with us here today. Ms. Stepanova, your bravery in coming forward 

as a whistleblower is truly admirable. I hope that many more Russian athletes will follow your example—it is high time that they realize they need not be part of this corrupt system. 

Mr. Walden, you’ll recall we met with Dr. Rodchenkov a few 

months back. He is a courageous individual and his whistleblowing 

has strengthened the global fight against corruption in international sport and elsewhere. We hope that many others who know 

the ins and outs of Putin’s corrupt system will come forward. Because of people like Ms. Stepanova and Dr. Rodchenkov, defrauded 

athletes at the very least know the truth of how they were cheated. 

My fellow Commissioners and I have set out to stop the injustices occurring to athletes and protect whistleblowers in the 

Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. This long overdue piece of legislation 

establishes criminal penalties and civil remedies for doping fraud 

41

at major international competitions. It also prohibits retaliation 

against whistleblowers who expose doping fraud and enables those 

whistleblowers who do experience retaliation to sue the retaliating 

party. It is unfortunate that such legislation has become necessary, 

but international sports bodies have proven time and again that 

they are not adequately able to investigate and deter doping fraud. 

Doping fraud should matter to any sports fan and anyone who 

cares about fair play. I welcome this hearing and this distinguished, international panel. I hope that this conversation will 

serve as the beginning of a global movement to clean up international sport, which has been infiltrated and corroded by corruption.

42

PREPARED STATEMENT OF TRAVIS T. TYGART, CHIEF EXECUTIVE

OFFICER, UNITED STATES ANTI-DOPING AGENCY

Mr. Chairman, members of the Commission, good afternoon. My 

name is Travis T. Tygart, and I am the Chief Executive Officer 

(CEO) of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). I want 

to thank this Commission for its interest in clean sport and for the 

invitation to appear before you today to discuss how we can better 

protect the rights of athletes and the integrity of competition. 

It is an honor for me to be here representing the USADA Board, 

our small but talented professional staff, and clean athletes from 

across the United States for whom we advocate every day. It is also 

an honor for USADA, a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit, incorporated in Colorado, to be a part of such an important discussion. We also greatly 

appreciate the ongoing support of Congress and the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy in our efforts to protect the 

health, safety and rights of clean athletes and the integrity of competition. 

We have arrived at a critical juncture for the soul of sport—a moment of truth, if you will. And today, I want to speak to the Commission about not only the significant and urgent threats facing 

clean athletes and fair play, but also about the very feasible solutions to these problems. 

First, the challenges: The truth is, fairness and integrity in athletic competition—two principles at the very heart of why we play 

and love sports—hang in the balance. They have been abused and 

are currently under attack. And, if we don’t act soon to enact reforms necessary to protect the rights of clean athletes and to preserve a level playing field—both here in the United States and 

around the world—we will be committing an unacceptable injustice 

to today’s athletes, fans, broadcasters and sponsors who believe in, 

and invest in, fair and clean competition; and equally intolerable, 

we risk shattering the dreams of tens of millions of young kids 

from around the world. 

You will hear from Russian world class athlete, Yulia Stephanov, 

about how a belief in a powerful dream coupled with a nugget of 

truth led her to be the first and by far most courageous ‘‘whistleblower’’ doing the truly unimaginable by standing up to Russian 

thugs, corruption and mafia tactics that overtook sport in her country. You will hear about the crushed dreams and lost hopes of an 

American skeleton athlete, Katie Uhlaender, who is also a victim 

of this corrupt Russian sport system and who while knowing in her 

heart she was a legitimate medalist in the 2014 Sochi Winter 

Olympic Games, is still being deprived of her rightful medal and 

recognition. 

As an independent anti-doping organization, we view athletes, 

like Yulia and Katie,—and their powerful stories—as our guiding 

light, our North Star. Their stories give us hope, they remind us 

of our purpose, and they provide us the fuel to continue to fight for 

their right to clean and fair competition. 

But, we need to ask ourselves something. And we need to be honest. How many more Yulias will we allow to be abused? How many 

more podium moments stolen from athletes like Katie? How many 

more medals will be handed over years after a competition—before 

43

we finally understand the importance of enforcing clean sport and 

fair competition? Katie and millions of other clean athletes from 

around the world who can’t be here today . . . they are why this 

matters. 

Now, in order to effectively protect the integrity of competition, 

we must first understand how and why the system is under attack. 

It’s because Russia’s widespread, state-supported doping system 

that corrupted and defrauded international sport was exposed. The 

astounding lengths to which Russia’s corrupt system went to deceive the world, anti-doping officials and other athletes, was in 

many ways, a nightmare realized. 

By now you’ve read and heard the facts: Shadow laboratories, 

tampering by Russian intelligence officers, samples swapped and 

passed through a hole in a wall under the cover of darkness, male 

DNA in female samples, and emails to and from the Russian Ministry of Sport determining which doped athletes the system would 

protect, and which ones it would sacrifice. 

The corruption has been proven to have been orchestrated and 

supported by Russian Government and sport officials within the 

Russian system. The scandal spread across 30-plus sports, lasting 

from at least 2011 to 2015. The evidence clearly shows at least, two 

Olympics Games and possibly hundreds of other competitions, were 

corrupted, failing to fully deliver on their promise. 

At the end of the day, despite mountains of evidence and vocal 

opposition from anti-doping groups—ourselves included—the IOC 

chose not to stand up for clean athletes and against institutionalized doping. Instead, the IOC welcomed the Russian Olympic Committee to the Rio Games. 

Still attempting to recover from its failure to take a firm stand 

against corruption prior to the Rio Games and fumbling around 

with Russia’s refusal to acknowledge and fix the corruption, 

shockingly the IOC eventually only suspended the Russian Olympic 

Committee for a few weeks and allowed over 160 Russian athletes 

to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. 

On behalf of those we serve along with anti-doping leaders from 

around the world, we have been consistent and firm, the IOC 

missed—or ignored—a defining moment to confront, in the clearest 

way possible, the win-at-all-costs culture of corruption through 

doping in global sport. It was an opportunity to draw an unambiguous line in the sand; a chance to stand up for clean athletes—a 

chance to show clean athletes they cared, to send a message, loud 

and clear, that this type of fraudulent behavior will not be tolerated in Olympic sport. Yet, when the decisive moment arrived, 

when the lights were shining brightest, the IOC failed to lead. 

Certainly, history will not judge that decision kindly. 

However, out of the Russian doping scandal, two silver linings 

have emerged. The first: More than ever before athletes are mobilizing, voicing their opinions and fighting for a level playing field. 

And second: We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to break 

through entrenched positions for the good of clean athletes and the 

future of sport. We have the chance to implement the reforms necessary to make sure the kind of state-supported doping we saw in 

Russia is never again allowed to abuse athletes by forcing them to 

44

endanger their health and safety to use dangerous drugs for a 

sport and government system’s bad purpose. 

To get there . . . the road to reform starts with independence. I’ve 

had the privilege to speak to Congress several times before about 

the ‘‘matrix of effectiveness’’ for anti-doping programs, about the 

elements of an effective anti-doping program—one armed not just 

to say there is ‘‘drug testing’’ for sport brand value purposes but 

to actually win the battle for clean athletes. In the U.S. and in 

many countries around the globe, these key elements such as, ensuring year-round, no-notice, out-of-competition testing for both 

blood and urine and conducting robust intelligence gathering and 

investigations, have been implemented and proved successful. 

Clean athletes can succeed when the current rules are implemented with determination and will to win for clean athletes. 

Yet, the problems which currently plague the global anti-doping 

system are even more basic. The most vital principle of an effective 

anti-doping system is that it must be free from the influence of 

sport governing bodies. It must be independent and serious about 

protecting clean athletes. 

Since our founding in 2000, we at USADA have advocated for a 

clear separation between those who promote sport and those who 

police it. To do so otherwise, we believe, is to encourage the fox to 

guard the henhouse. No matter how well intended it might begin, 

it simply does not work. The conflict of interest is too great and 

clean athletes will always lose out. 

This matter of independence is without question the most important issue facing global anti-doping efforts today. In fact, it’s likely 

the entire Russian state-supported doping scandal would have been 

exposed much sooner by the many good men and women staffed at 

the global oversight body for anti-doping in sport—the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA)—had its governance not been hamstrung 

by its own lack of true independence. 

We know now that WADA and the IOC had compelling evidence, 

from whistleblowers Yulia and Vitaly Stephanov, about systematic 

Russian cheating for several years prior to the 2014 Sochi Winter 

Olympic Games. Yet, action to protect clean athletes only happened 

after the whistleblowers—frustrated by inaction—took their story 

to the media. Even then, however, it took persistent lobbying by 

clean sport advocates including some within WADA’s own internal 

staff to finally convince its leaders to open up the initial Russian 

investigation which began in January 2015. 

The good news is that WADA’s conflicted governance model could 

be easily solved by removing sport leaders from the WADA leadership and implementing a proper conflict-of-interest policy which 

prohibits governing members from simultaneously holding a governing role within a sports organization under WADA’s jurisdiction. 

The fix for the IOC—which has experienced significant backlash 

from clean athletes in the wake of its inaction and poor handling 

of this sordid affair—is just as simple. In fact, we’ve said publicly 

on numerous occasions that if the IOC really wanted to put clean 

athletes and fair play first, they could. We believe that they could 

do it today. 

Since this Russian sport corruption was exposed, at least 37 National Anti-Doping Organizations from around the world, with the 

45

support of athletes and others have put forth a series of specific 

proposals designed to reform and strengthen the global anti-doping 

model. 

The path forward is outlined in what has been called the ‘‘Copenhagen Reform Declaration.’’ The reforms are simple yet effective 

and include:

• Remove the fundamental conflict of interest that exists when 

anti-doping decisions are controlled by sport organizations. 

• Strengthen WADA through improved independence, transparency, and increased investment. 

• Increase and make clear WADA’s ability to investigate, monitor compliance and impose sanctions, so that countries and organizations which engage in state-supported doping are held 

accountable. 

• Provide the opportunity for athletes who have been robbed by 

doping to have significant and meaningful recognition and celebration, including the swift reallocation of any medals. 

• Increase support and protection for whistleblowers around the 

world.

The failure of sport to do the right thing in confronting institutional fraud through doping and the refusal of sport to implement 

meaningful reforms has directly led us here today. Since sport has 

failed to make the basic reforms necessary to ensure this type of 

corruption never happens again, governments of the world that 

value fair play and that do not want to see athletes or corporations 

defrauded by kleptocrats should step up and fight back. The status 

quo is doomed to fail and we support efforts by governments and 

others to ensure that clean, true sport prevails. 

We appreciate the Commission’s work to explore ways to stop 

corrupt actors that organize and facilitate doping fraud, to protect 

whistleblowers and to take meaningful action. 

We whole heartedly support the goal of ensuring corrupt organizations and enterprises that defraud athletic competitions like 

what the Russians did never happens again. We feel confident 

making WADA independent as discussed above will preserve the 

many effective parts of the global system that have worked and 

also cure the problems that allowed state supported fraud to remain secret and then go unpunished for so long. Likewise, as mentioned above, we and our international partners support greater 

protection for truthful ‘‘whistleblowers’’ to encourage and 

incentivize them in speaking up and making it easier for them to 

obtain access to safe and secure living as well as to end any retaliation against them. 

Several of these concepts are in the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping 

Fraud Act and we support them. Additionally, we are ready to assist to help ensure any legislation that is ultimately passed is precise, effective and successful. We also are here to provide guidance, 

as appropriate, to ensure no unintended consequences arise that 

would undermine the tremendous progress that has been made 

since 2000 in advancing the interests of clean athletes and fair 

sport. 

We look forward to discussing these issues and working with the 

Commission going forward on this topic and to evolve the legislaVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
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tion to best achieve the goal of stopping criminal behavior in international sport perpetuated by nations and organizations and by 

protecting truthful whistleblowers. 

Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, for those of us who 

value the rights of clean athletes and the preservation of a fair, 

safe and healthy playing field—this is our moment. As a global 

community that deeply cares about athletes’ rights and health, we 

must merely find the resolve and the courage. 

The personal well-being of the next generation of clean athletes 

hangs in the balance. This is not just about elite Olympic athletes—this is about every kid on a playground who has an Olympic 

dream and asks ‘‘what do I have to do to make my dreams come 

true?’’ And the truth is, if we don’t push, if we don’t win, we will 

likely find ourselves back in this same position, years from now, 

staring another state-supported doping system in the face—one 

that has abused its athletes, and robbed another generation of 

clean athletes in the process. 

And, we will all be wondering why we didn’t do more when we 

had the chance.

47

PREPARED STATEMENT OF KATIE UHLAENDER, U.S. OLYMPIAN

Thank you for the opportunity to be here. It is inspiring to know 

the leaders of our nation are not giving up on protecting the rights 

of athletes. I am a 4 time Olympian and World Champion for the 

sport of Skeleton. 

I have dedicated my life to sprinting and diving head first onto 

a sled, hurling 80 mph down a bobsled track, with my chin inches 

from the ice. I’ve competed for the United States for 15 years, and 

held personal growth, integrity, and character at the forefront of 

my goals and duties as an Olympian. Despite facing many obstacles, surgeries, financial strain, and family loss I kept my focus on 

the goals I learned from my father. My father was a professional 

baseball player, who held his integrity and virtuous character 

above all. In the 1972 World Series, the Big Red Machine versus 

Catfish Hunter and the Oakland A’s, he was faced with the choice 

to take performance enhancing drugs, and his response was ‘‘when 

you’re at your best it’s enough.’’

His lesson to me was whatever path I chose in life, what I give 

it, should be something of pure grit and all I have to offer. Excuses 

should never get in the way of success, and your heart in the effort 

is what will define it. The effort, integrity, and how I pursue excellence defines me more than the results, or the career I chose. 

I chose to be an athlete like my father; which actively delayed 

my education, career, and settling on a home. My decision to be an 

Olympian was for the challenge, the growth, and the inspiration 

that is given and received. A noble path that allows iron to sharpen 

iron; one that I believe honors my father’s legacy, what he has 

taught me, my country, and God by giving the Olympic movement 

all I have. Sport is a space in which all races, political parties, and 

nations come together. The Olympics prominently holds their participants to a standard of heart and inspiration. I am an ambassador for my country, and for a movement that touches the world. 

I am not government funded, have very little sponsorship support, and there is very little money to be made by essentially competing on a really fast American Flyer Sled. None of the challenges 

I’ve faced deterred me from my dream or grit, I see this choice as 

a privilege. The dream was to one day stand on the podium, see 

the flag of the United States raised, and have the opportunity to 

say thank you all the people that supported me along the way. 

Winning a medal is the chance to give back to those who believed 

in me, to my community, and my country. That moment on the podium is a platform to inspire others to pursue excellence. The glory 

is in my effort. Any medal won belongs to those supporting our nation, and the quest to discover what is possible in fortitude and 

dreams. 

I fell just short of that dream to give back at the Sochi Winter 

Olympics. I missed a bronze medal by .04 of a second, over a distance of four miles. (Four Hundredths is quicker than you can 

blink!) I lost the bronze medal to a Russian athlete named in the 

McLaren Report, and who benefitted from the state sponsored conspiracy. Due to lack of enforcement, she and Russia have kept the 

medal. When I lost in Sochi, I lost with integrity and respect for 

48

my competitors. I did my best to honor all who helped me get 

there, despite coming up short. 

The New York Times revealed the doping scandal, the lengths 

the Russians went to cheat, and it broke my heart. So many of us 

had dedicated our lives to compete in that one moment, and we 

could never get it back. 

This was, and is a defining moment for all involved. A line was 

crossed, erasing the meaning of sport and the Olympics, for me and 

many. This intentional attack on the virtue of sport caused the 

meaning of the Olympics to change. Yet I resolved that I had done 

all I could, and I could only truly lose once. But I was wrong. 

The IOC ruled to strip the medals from those who had cheated 

on November, 2017 (these athletes were listed in the McLaren Report). This made me a bronze medalist, and it felt like the good guy 

could win! The flame of the Olympic Movement had been relit. 

That flame was quickly put out. The ruling was not upheld. The 

day I arrived in Korea for my 4th Olympic Games, they announced 

the Court of Arbitration for Sport had overturned that decision. I 

was no longer a bronze medalist, and had now lost the same Olympics twice. This time almost felt worse, it was a something that 

crushed more than my own spirit, we all felt it. 

How could this happen? The evidence shows Russian athletes 

were forced to choose between taking illegal drugs to compete, or 

be cast out of their life’s pursuit. This is more than just an attack 

on an ideal, it’s an infringement on all athlete rights. Essentially 

these athletes are forced to take dangerous drugs, and there are no 

consequences or accountability for it, because the athletes didn’t 

know. What will stop Russia (or another country) from abusing 

young children or other athletes now realizing there are no serious 

consequences. Even if the athletes are caught, the abusing powers 

have no accountability and their nation keeps the glory. 

A young athlete can return to sport to perform even after a ban, 

at no consequence to their coaches or state. The athletes may not 

feel the health consequences until years after they retire. These 

drugs can result in serious health risks: shortened life span, an inability to have children, but their country’s goals will have been 

met to win at all costs. There is more at risk here than just the 

broken rules of a game. 

No one is disputing Russia’s conspiracy to cheat, the fraud, or 

the doping, and yet nothing was done to protect the athletes or to 

prevent this from happening again. There are supposed to be institutions set in place to uphold these ideals, and they are very well 

defined. I don’t know how in light of all the evidence presented, 

there were no consequences or accountability held. The lack of enforced policy in regard to cheating, fraud, and doping cost the 

Olympic spirit something indefinable. All of the virtues I was 

taught to hold above all else were left standing alone, without support, seeming no longer valuable to the Olympic Movement, and it 

scares me. 

It seems clear that we need help with the application and prosecution of the rules. Russia has still not met the standards set before them, is refusing to turn over evidence from the Moscow lab. 

Evidence that could bring closure to many open cases. It is important that WADA acquires those samples. The Russians have alVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
49

ready destroyed over 3,000 samples to hide evidence, and I worry 

these too will disappear. WADA needs the strength to investigate, 

collect evidence, and enforce policy to prevent spoliation. 

We need help in giving the organizations in place the ability to 

uphold and execute protection of sport. 

As an athlete, I have done all I can. I compete with integrity, 

represent my nation well and will continue to compete with honor 

and show gratitude for the opportunity to represent my nation. It 

seems clean athletes like myself, have no choice but to turn to you, 

the leaders of our nation for help. We need help protecting the 

ideals passed from father to daughter, and the things that children 

are raised believing to inspire them to a lifetime of dedication and 

self-belief. The type of belief and dedication that creates American 

heroes. 

A quote that also embodies why it matters to never give up and 

continue to speak truth, spread virtue, and uphold one’s character:

‘‘If you can keep your head when all about you 

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, 

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, 

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, 

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; 

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; 

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster 

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken 

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, 

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 

And lose, and start again at your beginnings 

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 

To serve your turn long after they are gone, 

And so hold on when there is nothing in you 

Except the will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, 

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, 

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, 

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute 

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, 

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, 

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!’’

Rudyard Kipling, If: A Father’s Advice to His Son

50

PREPARED STATEMENT OF YULIYA STEPANOVA, FORMER RUSSIAN

OLYMPIAN AND ANTI-DOPING WHISTLEBLOWER

Thank you very much for inviting me to share with you some of 

my journey as an elite track and field athlete inside of Russia’s 

doping system and now a whistleblower hoping to make sports 

clean. 

I would like to begin by apologizing about my past. Unfortunately, I cannot change my past. I was in the Russian doping system, I cheated and now I am talking about it. 

When I was 14 years old, I watched the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. I saw all the Russian Olympians as gods,—as the people out 

of this world. While watching them, I would get emotionally attached. I cried when they lost and felt happiness when they won. 

Back then I could not imagine that I could be one of the athletes 

representing my home country in international competitions and 

become like one of my athletic heroes. 

I started running when I was 17 years old and started hearing 

about doping from other athletes. I asked my coach, what is 

doping? He explained to me that doping is like vitamins for athletes. All athletes use it and if I want to run fast I must use it. 

When I was 20 years old, I got very sick and spent three months 

in the hospital. Even though many people around me were telling 

me that I will not be able to run again I kept dreaming that I will 

get healthy because at that time I could not live without running. 

Later, my coach told me that he spoke to the doctor about giving 

me some prohibited substances, and the doctor said they would 

probably lead to a faster recovery. After getting out of the hospital 

I slowly started running again and the first 6 months I was training lightly and taking only pills that were prescribed to help recover from tuberculosis. 

The following winter my coach decided to give me testosterone. 

That’s where it began. I was soon doing EPO injections, taking oral 

turinabol and more. My PRs got faster and I became a real member 

of the Russian National Team. I didn’t feel like I was doing anything wrong because everyone was doing it. 

The most shocking thing that I learned during this time was that 

members of the Russian National Track and Field team could compete completely dirty at the National Championships. So, I could 

do EPO and testosterone injections while competing in the national 

championships and then just text my urine sample number to the 

head of the Russian track and field medical commission and there 

would not be a positive test. The anti-doping lab and the Russian 

Anti-Doping Agency, with the approval of the Russian Ministry of 

Sports, did not report to WADA about dirty samples. And there 

were hundreds of positives just in track and field that were never 

reported. In the end, the main goal was to make sure that those 

athletes were clean two to three weeks after national competitions 

and during major international competitions. 

In the spring of 2012, The Russian Track and Field Federation 

was not happy with my performances at international competitions 

because I was not winning medals. But they gave me one last 

chance. I decided that I need to train harder but soon I started to 

51

feel pain in the upper part of the anterior thigh. The pain got 

stronger every day, but I kept training. 

Soon, I understood that I could not continue to run as I had pain 

even when I was walking. My coach wanted to help me recover 

faster and advised me to do infusions with Creatinolfosfate sodium 

and Mydocalm. So, I infused the substances and shortly after, my 

heart rate started to increase rapidly. My heart was beating 

stronger and stronger with every second. 

I was scared that my heart would stop and I would die. The ambulance came, and they injected something to get my heart rate 

down. My heart had withstood the effects of these drugs and I survived. After this, I was scared to do injections and infusions on my 

own. 

Today, I still have health problems after using all these substances. My Ferritin level is 20 times more than it should be and 

I have a stone in the right buttock from doing iron injections the 

wrong way. Doctors said that my training helps me to use extra 

ferritin from my body but when I stop my training, I have to find 

a solution for this problem or I could die from Iron Poisoning. 

In the beginning of 2013 I was facing a ban. At that time, Vitaly, 

my husband, helped me to see the world through different eyes and 

offered me a choice. I could act like most of my teammates did—

cry a little and continue to listen to the lies of the Russian sports 

officials and while being sanctioned continue to get paid by the 

Russian Police, Russian Ministry of Sports and Russian Regional 

sports organizations. Or we could try to fight the system together. 

Most athletes in Russia do not have such choice, as there is still 

not a single organization in Russia that truly fights corruption in 

sports. I want to continue to run and compete without doping and 

not lie and listen to lies again. 

The Russian doping system does not hate people that stay in the 

system and get caught. It hates people that fight the system. And 

we decided to fight it. We are now traitors to Russia, but we know 

we’ve done the right thing. 

From January 2013 until November 2014 I gained evidence by 

recording sport officials, coaches and athletes discussing the existing doping system in Russia. In December 2014, I gave some of this 

evidence to German investigative journalist Hajo Seppelt, and he 

made it public. In 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency Independent Commission investigated the situation in the Russian 

track and field, and in November 2015, the WADA Independent 

Commission report confirmed my and my husband’s statements 

and used a lot of the evidence that we provided them. This report 

helped to move things forward and Dr. Rodchenkov decided to tell 

the truth about the doping situation in Russia as well. 

From the beginning, it was our hope that we would be able to 

get people to tell the truth. But we understand why others have 

not become whistleblowers and are still inside of the system as the 

fight against doping and corruption in Russian sports is not easy. 

You will lose your job, your career and even fear for the safety of 

you and your family. You will be called a liar and a traitor if you 

stand up against the system, that unfortunately still exists in Russian sports today. 

52

Vitaly and I could never imagine that we would get this far in 

raising our concerns about the doping situation in Russia. We were 

not able to find much support inside of Russia, but we were happy 

to see that most Russian sports officials were not right. Not every 

country’s goal is to cover up doping use of athletes of their own 

country. In fact, rules do matter, and ethics matters in sports. 

I am glad to say that our efforts did not go unnoticed, and we 

are glad that the situation in Russia is being discussed globally. 

We feel that we are in a fight that is still not over yet and we 

thank you for allowing us to share our story with you. The best 

part for us over the past few years was to learn that there are people that care about fair competition. We just wish those people 

were louder and stronger because clean athletes need to see it and 

feel it. A special thank you to investigative journalists and the 

United States Anti-Doping Agency for not staying away from the 

problem and for making sports cleaner not just in the USA but in 

Russia as well. 

I believe that criminalizing doping and strongly punishing those 

that cheat in Olympic sports is a necessary step to make sports 

better. We, as parents, deserve to know that our children that participate on any level of competition are in safe hands and gaining 

positive and ethical experiences. Sports officials, coaches, managers, doctors, and anyone that decide to take advantage of our 

children, the Olympic values, and anti-doping rules must be strongly punished and banned from sports for life. 

Thank you very much.

53

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DAGMAR FREITAG, CHAIRWOMAN, SPORTS

COMMITTEE OF THE GERMAN BUNDESTAG

Dear Chairman Michael Burgess, Distinguished Commissioners, 

Ladies and Gentleman, 

Thank you for inviting me to Washington this afternoon. It is my 

outmost pleasure to be part of this exclusive circle of guests, who 

were asked to testify in a hearing, which focuses on strategic and 

legal approaches to fight globalized corruption and doping in international sport. 

My presentation is based on my personal and professional perspectives and experience, gained as MP in the German Parliament, 

as longstanding vice-president of the German Athletics Federation 

and member of the Supervisory Board of Germany’s National AntiDoping Agency. 

The reputation of international sports organizations is simply 

disastrous. Doping, bribery, manipulation—all this massively damages the integrity of sports and undermines the values it is actually supposed to represent. In simple words: We must stand up to 

international rule-breaking. I am fully convinced, that this systematic rule breaking can only be combatted successfully with systematic counterstrikes and—not to be underestimated—international 

co-operation. As we witness global sport bodies failing to protect 

the sports they represent, we as politicians have to set up an effective framework regulated by law and by doing so take the lead to 

fight the various threats in sport. 

Sport and sports organizations are unable to protect themselves. 

And—this should not go unmentioned—in most cases they are recognizably unwilling to do what they could do. Moreover: We have 

to face the fact that some sports organizations protect or even 

blackmail cheating athletes. One of the worst examples was former 

President Lamine Diack in his term of office in the International 

Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF). 

When the Russian doping system was uncovered, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) showed a significant lack of 

leadership and violation of the rights of clean athletes. The reintegration of Russia into the so-called Olympic Family at a much 

too early point—where not nearly all of the World Anti-Doping 

Agency’s requirements have been accomplished—is not only a mistake, it is a severe attack on the integrity of sports and their credibility. 

But even those organizations that are willing to take every step 

necessary to fight doping and corruption in sport, at some point 

have to realize that their means are limited. Not only resources—

for example the number, intensity and intelligence of doping 

tests—may be limited. They simply don’t have the tools state prosecutors and police bodies have. In the case of suspected doping 

offences, police and public prosecutors can conduct more intensive 

investigations than any sports organization. Searching premises, 

confiscating possession or tracking financial irregularities can be 

conducted by official authorities only. 

To make it clear: to root out doping and corruption in sport, not 

only international co-operation, but also national laws are useful 

and necessary. 

54

Just to name some examples:

Referring to the doping cases of Marion Jones or Lance Armstrong, USADA and the US law enforcement agencies have done a 

great job uncovering the network behind the athletes. It was a 

great success, as existing US laws allow close cooperation between 

authorities and USADA. US legal authorities used the ‘‘Racketeer 

Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act’’ to uncover 

FIFA’s various corruption cases. 

For several reasons I also support the proposed bill, the 

‘‘Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act’’. 

It broadens the focus and targets doping fraud violations at 

major international competitions. From my point of view, the 

Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act is a major step forward in the international fight against doping. Let me point out two important aspects: 

Section 7 ‘‘Statute of Limitation’’ defines that no civil suit may 

be brought unless brought within 10 years after the offense was 

completed. As urine or blood samples are frozen and stored for up 

to ten years and may be re-analyzed by accredited labs, it is consistent that the limitation period does not go below. Should the 

IOC, WADA or whatever organization extend that period, it might 

be useful to mirror that progress in the law. 

I also recognize, that retaliation shall be unlawful. We all know 

about individuals who were put under pressure and forced to keep 

secrets. Some of those who resisted and testified became outlaws 

in the world of sports. We have to protect whistleblowers and penalize individuals, who threaten or retaliate. 

But let me also mention that I suggest to supplement the definition of a doping fraud. Section 3 defines, that doping fraud means 

the use of any performance-enhancing drug. In my understanding 

it does not include manipulation of blood and blood components, 

chemical and physical manipulation or gene doping named as M1, 

M2 and M3 in the WADA’s listing of prohibited methods. Section 

3 also defines, that the list of performance-enhancing drugs shall 

be specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the 

basis of scientific and international sports standards. From my 

point of view, it might be useful to refer to the World Anti-Doping 

Code and the prohibited list. 

Fighting doping, manipulation, bribery eg. in sport is a global 

challenge and can only be effectively counteracted by implementing 

and executing legislation. I am pretty sure that athletes would 

think twice about doping if they would risk going to prison because 

of it. Compared to a temporary ban from sport events, being imprisoned is really worrying. In some countries anti-doping regimes 

are far more vigorous than in others. Though the discussion is 

truly not new, we are still facing a worldwide discrepancy in antidoping legislation. 

We also have to globally promote coordinated anti-doping legislation as a response to counter the threat of cheating. 

There is a variety of regional or even international declarations 

and resolutions targeting the protection of integrity in sports. 

In 2013 Berlin hosted the 5th International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and 

Sport MINEPS V. 

55

In the ‘‘Berlin Declaration’’ the ministers committed to ‘‘consider 

the introduction of criminal sanctions which would act as a deterrent against the manipulation of sport competitions, and against 

doping in sport’’. 

In late 2016 the Council of Europe’s Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport addressed the role of governments in the fight 

against doping and stressed the need to revise their policy where 

necessary. 

Just recently the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted the Resolution 2199 ‘‘Towards a framework for modern sports governance’’ and called for action to foster good governance of sports. 

With introducing the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act the U.S. Helsinki Commission accepts these recommendations and takes an important step in the fight against doping. I am fully convinced, that 

anti-doping legislation is a crucial tool to root out doping in sports. 

The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act and today’s hearing will support 

our joint efforts to serve the clean athletes and protect the integrity 

of sports.

56

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JIM WALDEN, PARTNER, WALDEN MACHT

& HARAN LLP; ATTORNEY FOR DR. GRIGORY RODCHENKOV

Chairman Wicker, Co-Chairman Smith and Members of the Commission: 

I appreciate the opportunity to address the Commission about 

the critical need for the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2018, H.R. 

6067 (‘‘RADA’’). The information I offer here derives from a number 

of sources, including sworn testimony previously submitted by Dr. 

Rodchenkov to the International Olympic Committee (‘‘IOC’’): 

As I am sure the Commission is well aware, the problem with 

organized doping fraud has not been, and cannot be, addressed by 

the current international framework and its regulatory bodies. Up 

until now, enforcing anti-doping rules has been largely a measure 

of self-policing by international sports organizations, such as the 

IOC, the World Anti-Doping Agency (‘‘WADA’’), and the various 

international sports federations. These organizations have proven 

to be ineffective at best and complicit or corrupt at worse. Recent 

events—including Dr. Rodchenkov’s brave decision to reveal the 

pervasive state-sponsored doping program in Russia—make clear 

that doping fraud in international sports competitions is also a 

powerful mechanism for larger campaigns of political aggression 

and criminal activity against the United States, including money 

laundering, bribery, fraud, drug trafficking, racketeering, computer 

hacking, and other forms of corruption. The federal guilty plea by 

Richard Lai, a former member of FIFA’s Audit Committee, for taking $850,000 in bribes is a powerful reminder that many countries 

will do anything to win the right to host major competitions and 

to have their athletes win there. This, too, is true of doping fraud, 

as became clear when Austrian criminal authorities raided the 

headquarters of the International Biathlon Union in March of this 

year based, in part, on Dr. Rodchenkov’s disclosures about bribes 

paid to cover-up anti-doping rule violations. In short, state sponsors 

of doping fraud generally succeed by resorting to many other forms 

of corruption, to the detriment of the United States. 

Yet, the United States and other countries who send athletes to 

participate in, and have corporations who support, international 

sporting competitions do not have a legal mechanism to hold aggressors accountable. Countries like Russia—who victimize innocent athletes, corporations, and financial institutions with impunity—have never been made to answer for their criminal behavior. 

Even for those few international sporting organizations that take 

doping fraud seriously, such as the International Association of 

Athletics Federations (‘‘IAAF’’), they lack tools to make the activity 

stop and to bring justice to defrauded victims. No legislation currently exists to criminalize international doping fraud or provide 

redress to victims or brave whistleblowers in the form of a civil 

remedy for damages. RADA has the potential to expose international criminal activity and act as a deterrent against those who 

attempt to injure our country’s athletes and retaliate against the 

brave individuals who unveil the truth. 

The current international framework and its regulatory structure 

fails us in several ways. First and foremost, even with the best 

technology and ample resources, cheaters are difficult to catch, 

57

1 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/sports/olympics/O1doping.html 2http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-1041882/Top-Olympic-officialaccuses-Russian-athletes-systematic-planned-doping.html 3https://www.doping.nl/media/kb/4412/IOC-reanalysis-programme-final-eng.pdf 

4https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/wada-2013-adrv-report-en.pdf 

given the myriad ways to take performance enhancing drugs, or 

PEDs. Second, most international sporting organizations do not 

have sufficient resources and the kinds of technologies needed to 

catch the cheaters, even if they desired to do so. Third, most international organizations use tough talk about doping fraud, but their 

actions have been extraordinarily weak because of the inherent 

conflicts of interests under which they operate, as well as complicity and corruption. The well documented case of Russian cheating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi is the clearest lens 

through which to see the problems with existing structures. 

State sponsored doping in Russian had, even by December 2014, 

been long suspected. For example, in July 2008, the International 

Association of Athletics Federation (the ‘‘IAAF’’) suspended seven 

Russian track and field athletes before the 2008 Beijing Olympic 

Games. In response, the New York Times observed: ‘‘The number 

of suspensions, and the varied events involved, raised troubling 

questions about possible ineptitude or corruption in Russian drugtesting procedures and also prompted concerns about whether a deliberate, systematic attempt was made by coaches or officials to undermine drug-testing protocols.’’ 1 In those cases, the athletes were 

(not surprisingly) accused of tampering with urine samples. 

The questions about the state-sponsored system have been consistently raised (and unaddressed) ever since. When Yelena 

Soboleva and Tatyana Tomashova (elite Russian middle distance 

runners) were thrown out of the Beijing Games based on sample 

substitution at collection sites (a practice well-used within Russia 

for many years), the Chairperson of the IOC’s Medical Commission 

at the time (who was also Vice President of WADA), Arne 

Ljungqvist, said: ‘‘This does seem to be an example of systematic 

planned doping . . . .’’ 2 Thus, it was certainly no surprise to Dr. 

Rodchenkov (and should not have been a surprise to anyone) that—

after the IOC finally re-tested stored urine sample from the Beijing 

Games-Russian athletes represented 36% of the new doping violations discovered in the reanalysis (16 of 44). 3 It is no wonder, then, 

that when WADA published its first major report of anti-doping 

rule violations in 2013, the report found that Russia was the top 

violator, with 225 violations and approximately 20% more violations than second-place Turkey (with 188). 4

Then, in December 2014, a German documentary aired a hardhitting report containing secret recordings and official documents 

which, taken together, demonstrated clear evidence of systematic 

doping by Russian athletes. In response, WADA convened an Independent Commission to investigate. In two subsequent reports—on 

November 9, 2015 and January 14, 2016—WADA’s Independent 

Commission confirmed the existence of a state-sponsored doping 

system in Russia. 

Russia’s reaction to the WADA reports was to deny and obfuscate, while they prepared to make Dr. Rodchenkov the scape goat. 

Dr. Rodchenkov denied them the opportunity to murder and blame 

58

him by escaping Russia and then disclosing the truth about Russia’s state-sponsored doping system to the New York Times on May 

13, 2016. What did WADA do? It formed yet another independent 

commission to investigate Dr. Rodchenkov’s claims. In two more reports—dated July 18, 2016, and December 9, 2016—WADA’s independent commission thoroughly reviewed Dr. Rodchenkov’s evidence, and found additional forensic evidence corroborating his 

claims that Russia systematically swapped dirty urine samples 

with clean samples during the Olympic Games. 

After two Commissions and four reports laden with evidence of 

the Russian state-sponsored doping system, what did the IOC do? 

Almost nothing at first. It refused to ban Russia from the Summer 

Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. It then formed two more Commissions to review the evidence amassed by WADA’s commissions. 

Not surprisingly, both of those Commissions also found Dr. 

Rodchenkov’s testimony completely credible. Still, even with its 

own Commissions having confirmed a doping-fraud scheme of epic 

proportions and byzantine complexity, the IOC refused an outright 

ban of Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics, allowing Russian 

athletes to compete with Russian insignia on their uniforms and offering to lift the suspension so the Russian flag could fly during the 

closing ceremonies. And I am fully confident the IOC would have 

done so had two Russian athletes not been caught doping during 

the games, forcing the IOC to keep the suspension in place until 

after the games. 

During his testimony before the IOC Commissions, Dr. 

Rodchenkov presented overwhelming evidence of corruption and 

doping fraud dating back decades, including acts of bribery and 

money laundering to cover-up doping. He also disclosed Russian 

bribery to win the opportunity to host the Sochi Games in the first 

place. He disclosed the structure of the Russian doping system, 

which went straight to the top of the Russian Government, including the current Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. Dr. Rodchenkov 

also made clear the pervasive nature of the Russian state-sponsored doping program, which expanded its tentacles across state 

boundaries, financial institutions, and made a mockery of WADA 

accredited laboratories tasked with detecting doping. He was not 

the only witness to make these startling disclosures, but he certainly was the most important whistleblower with the most sweeping knowledge of the many Russian agencies necessary to make the 

scheme work, including Russia’s secret police. And, despite the 

willful and extensive scheme and the hundreds of athletes and corporations who were defrauded-surely the most brazen scheme in 

the history of sports—Russia was suspended for a single edition of 

the winter Olympics and then promptly reinstated. In the meantime, dozens of athletes had their Olympic dreams stolen. All to 

say this: the international regulatory bodies, WADA and the IOC, 

who have been entrusted to hold counties like Russia accountable, 

have failed. As a result, cheaters—whether individual or state actors—who commit acts of international doping fraud have no fear 

that they will be held accountable for their actions. 

This sort of weak-kneed action and the absence of accountability 

mechanisms has only emboldened Russia, as it will embolden other 

cheaters. Indeed, throughout this saga, Russia has denied responsiVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:34 Oct 22, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00062 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 X:\_HS\WORK\30972.TXT NINA
59

bility and sought to blame and retaliate against Dr. Rodchenkov. 

For example, on the very day that Dr. Rodchenkov was scheduled 

to be interviewed by Immigration officials in the U.S., Russia announced that it brought charges against him for alleged drug trafficking. Russia has harassed Dr. Rodchenkov’s family, seized his 

property, and is lobbying vigorously to force his return to Russia, 

where it can silence him permanently. Despite relying on his testimony and finding him credible, the IOC refused to punish Russia 

or issue any sanctions. WADA alone demanded that Russia cease 

its efforts, but WADA lacks any way to enforce that demand. 

RADA directly calls for protection of whistleblowers, like Dr. 

Rodchenkov, who must be supported to shed light on the criminal 

activity that threatens the integrity of international sports. 

Based on my sorry experiences with the IOC, I asked the Helsinki Commission to consider proposing legislation to create a firstof-its-kind enforcement mechanism when I appeared before the 

Commission on February 22, 2018. Having reviewed H.R. 6067, I 

applaud the Commission for proposing legislation that could be the 

dawn of a new day in anti-doping enforcement. It provides sweeping protections for whistleblowers, like Dr. Rodchenkov, and thus 

it will encourage more such whistleblowers to come forward. It creates a private right of action for athletes who were defrauded by 

doping cheats. And, most importantly, it provides powerful criminal 

enforcement tools so that the Department of Justice can make 

doping fraud a true priority, thereby protecting U.S. athletes and 

corporations who suffer damages at the hands of perpetrators. 

Once dopers and their accomplices start going to jail, other dopers 

will be finally deterred. 

Dr. Rodchenkov asked that I make a short statement from him: 

‘‘Again, I wish to apologize to the world for my part in the Russian 

state-sponsored doping system. During the time I ran the Moscow 

Lab, my orders came from the top of the Russian Federation. Putin 

said ‘Russia must win at any cost,’ and the Ministry of Sports executed that command by substantially improving our ability to administer PEDs secretly. To refuse to go along would have been a 

death sentence. I hope that my difficult decision to come forward 

and tell the truth will lead to continuing reforms. I believe the Helsinki Commission’s leadership is critical, and I fully support the 

proposed legislation. I am humbled and grateful it is named after 

me, and I hope I can continue to be a force for good.’’

Æ

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