Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren released a detailed report into allegations of doping among Russian Olympic athletes on Monday.
McLaren found that Russia’s doping program resulted in falsified results, and that the lab at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics “operated a unique sample swapping methodology” that allowed Russian athletes to compete.
READ MORE: Report confirms Russian sample-swapping, widespread doping during Olympics
McLaren, a Western University law professor, was asked by the World Anti-Doping Agency to investigate allegations of widespread doping by Russian athletes — as detailed in news reports in the New York Times and elsewhere.
He has lots of experience in the area: he recently worked on an independent commission looking specifically into doping on Russia’s track and field team. That investigation, released in November 2015, found the “existence of widespread cheating through the use of doping substances.”
READ MORE: Russian track and field athletes banned from Rio Olympics
McLaren has a long history of involvement in sports, according to his law faculty biography. He is a long-standing member of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, and has been involved in negotiations between NHL players and owners.
He also worked with American Senator George J. Mitchell on what came to be known as the “Mitchell Report”: an independent investigation into the use of steroids and performance enhancing substances in Major League Baseball. The 2007 report found widespread illegal use of steroids in the MLB for more than a decade, and was critical of the league’s response to the issue.
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