A documentary that aired Wednesday on German TV network ARD alleged a widespread doping conspiracy in Russian athletics, .
The program featured several former Russian athletes. Marathoner Liliya Shobukhova, three-time winner in Chicago, said she paid about $550,000 to the Russian Athletics Federation to have a positive test covered up in advance of the London Olympics. Earlier this year, she was given a two-year ban for doping.
Sprinter Iuliia Stepanova, currently serving a ban, detailed practices like traveling under assumed names while training. Discus thrower Yevgeniya Pecherina estimated virtually all Russian athletes are using performance-enhancing drugs.
The documentary also featured several secretly filmed videos, one of which reportedly shows current 800-meter Olympic champion Maria Savinova admitting to doping. Other videos appeared to show Russian athletic officials discussing performance-enhancing drugs.
The report focused on runners and track and field athletes but also implicated officials in other sports, including swimming, cycling, and cross-country skiing. The Russian Athletics Federation has denied the allegations; an investigation by the IAAF, the governing body of international athletics, is ongoing.
Paula Radcliffe, the only woman to run a marathon faster than Shobukhova before the Russian’s title was stripped, expressed her disgust in . “The ARD doping documentary is making me sick to my stomach. Some of the allegations coming out of this are every sport’s worst nightmare,” she said.