The winner of the gold medal in 50 km cross-country skiing at the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014, Alexander Legkov, is finally cleared of the accusation of doping in Sochi 2014. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court rejects the appeal of the International Olympic Committee against the decision of the International Court of Sport CAS of 1 February 2018 (CAS 2017/A/5379 Legkov v International Olympic Committee).
WIESCHEMANN | Attorneys at Law are very pleased that the proceedings against our client Alexander Legkov, which lasted more than two years, have been successfully concluded. With him we went through the instances of the FIS Anti Doping Panel, in a first case before the CAS, the Oswald Commission of the IOC and a second case before the CAS. Both the athlete and we had to accept many setbacks. But the result is correct.
On February 1, 2018, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, through the arbitrators Prof. Vedder, Dr. Gharavi, Dr. Martens, annulled the decision of the Oswald Commission of the IOC, which deprived the athlete of the gold medal in the 50 km cross-country skiing and the silver medal in the relay and suspended him for life for the Olympic Games, and acquitted the athletes after 60 hours of trial and hearing of more than twenty witnesses and experts.
There is no factual evidence for the allegations made by Dr. Rodchenkov regarding the events in Sochi. This is not due solely to the circumstances that one may expect from a whistleblower and because evidence was allegedly avoided to be left behind. Rather, Rodchenkov himself has become entangled in contradictions and manifest falsehoods in the proceedings. The story was by no means as he tells it to this day.
Prof. Mclaren should have recognised this at an early stage if his research did not lack the checks and balances that are necessary and actually usual in scientific operations. This, too, became apparent in the proceedings.
The IOC had also seriously violated the athletes’ procedural rights and even withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense and the court.
The CAS judgment contains the following paragraph:
“Dr. Rodchenkov’s statement is not supported by any other evidence, including forensic evidence, and provides no evidence of the Athlete’s use of any Prohibited Substance or Anti-Doping Violations.
What the panel has decided in the appeal of a single athlete against the finding of various anti-doping violations is simply the following: For all the reasons set out in this judgment, the evidence submitted to the Panel does not justify the conclusion of the Panel’s comfortable satifaction that the Athlete individually committed any of the alleged anti-doping violations through actions or omissions. „
The IOC filed an appeal against the decision of the CAS with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which has now been dismissed. There are no other legal remedies.
Alexander Legkov can rightly claim: “My medals are clean! Congratulations to you!
The winner of the gold medal in 50 km cross-country skiing at the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014, Alexander Legkov, is finally cleared of the accusation of doping in Sochi 2014. The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland rejected the appeal of the International Olympic Committee against the decision of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) of 1.2.2018 (CAS 2017/A/5379 Legkov vs. International Olympic Committee).
WIESCHEMANN | Attorneys at Law are delighted that the proceedings against our client Alexander Legkov, which lasted more than two years, have been successfully concluded. With him we went through the instances of the FIS Anti Doping Panel, in a first case before the CAS, the Oswald Commission of the IOC and a second case before the CAS. Both the athlete and we had to accept many setbacks. But the result is correct.
On February 1, 2018, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, by the arbitrators Prof. Vedder, Dr. Gharavi, Dr. Martens, annulled the decision of the Oswald Commission of the IOC, which deprived the athlete of the gold medal in 50 km cross-country skiing and the silver medal in the relay and suspended him from the Olympic Games for life, and after 60 hours of trial and hearing of more than twenty witnesses and experts, acquitted the athletes.
There is no factual evidence for the allegations made by Dr. Rodchenkov regarding the events in Sochi. This is not only due to the circumstances one can expect from a whistleblower and because evidence was allegedly avoided to leave. Rather, Rodchenkov himself has become entangled in contradictions and manifest falsehoods in the proceedings. The story was by no means as he tells it today.
Prof. Mclaren would also have had to recognize this at an early stage if his investigation did not lack the “checks and balances” that are necessary and actually usual in scientific operations. This, too, became apparent in the procedure.
The IOC had also seriously violated the procedural rights of the athletes and even withheld exculpatory evidence from the defense and the court.
The CAS judgment contains the following paragraph:
The testimony of Dr. Rodchenkov is not corroborated by any further evidence, including forensic evidence, and does not provide evidence for the Athlete´s use of a prohibited substance or an ADRV.
What the Panel, in the appeal of an individual athlete against the finding of various ADRVs, did decide is simply this: for all of the reasons outlined in this award, the evidence presented before the Panel does not justify the conclusion to the comfortable satisfaction of the Panel that the Athlete, through acts or omissions, individually committed any of the alleged ADRVs
The IOC filed an appeal against the decision of the CAS with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which has now been dismissed. There are no further appeals.
Alexander Legkov can rightly claim: “My medals are clean!” congratulations