2016 New York City MarathonNov 3, 2016 by Dennis Young
A Russian Agent Might Have Bribed U.S. Races To Let His Doped Athletes In
A Russian Agent Might Have Bribed U.S. Races To Let His Doped Athletes In
Russian agent Andrey Baranov is being investigated for bribing American races to let his doped athletes in.
A report in the New York Times today says that Russian agent and New York City resident Andrey Baranov is being surveilled by U.S. government officials. According to the Times, the operation is "looking into whether Mr. Baranov conspired with American marathon organizers--including New York City Marathon officials--to allow athletes using banned substances to compete in their events."
In separate interviews to the Times, Baranov denied making bribes and New York City Marathon officials denied taking them.
Baranov has been in the news before. He was integral to kicking off the Russian doping and IAAF scandals; he blew the whistle on both IAAF corruption and his own athlete Liliya Shobukhova's doping. And this time last year, he was giving an interview to the NYT complaining that Russian athletes were being blacklisted from the New York City Marathon. Maybe his old methods of getting his athletes in to the race simply stopped working.
In separate interviews to the Times, Baranov denied making bribes and New York City Marathon officials denied taking them.
Baranov has been in the news before. He was integral to kicking off the Russian doping and IAAF scandals; he blew the whistle on both IAAF corruption and his own athlete Liliya Shobukhova's doping. And this time last year, he was giving an interview to the NYT complaining that Russian athletes were being blacklisted from the New York City Marathon. Maybe his old methods of getting his athletes in to the race simply stopped working.