9. Strict liability

Bloodsport is the story of the systematic doping of the 2012 and
2014 Olympics by the Russian state. It is the single most
important sports story of our time and it reads like a Cold War
thriller. The Evening Standard's sports correspondent Matt
Majendie tells the whole story from 2012 till now.


Episode 9 takes us inside the world of doping and looks at the
human damage it inflicts. Not just on those cheated but also on
the cheats themselves. Coercion, health effects, abuse. It’s not
obvious where moral responsibility lies.


For the first time, you’ll hear the whole story from 2012 to 2020
told by the people who were there. You’ll hear from Paula
Radcliffe and Sebastian Coe on London 2012, you’ll meet the
expert German investigator who cracked the case wide open and
from athletes who doped. We’ve got access to the elite Swiss lab
racing to finish testing London 2012 samples and we’ve spoken to
the guy who masterminded doping control at the London games.


You’ll also hear first-hand testimony from people who blew the
whistle inside Russia (at the risk of their own lives) and from
seasoned journalists who watched open-mouthed as the whole thing
unfolded. And we’ll take you into the ongoing arms race between
doper and tester, to see how the science of testing plays out in
the analysis of blood and urine samples. Despite it being eight
years ago, the story isn’t over. There are unfinished corruption
trials in French Courts and ongoing allegations of flagrant
Russian cheating (even as the Russian government denies all the
evidence). Against all this is the soon-to-be pressing question
of whether Russia will participate in the now postponed Tokyo
Olympics. The credibility of the Olympic movement might hang on
the decision. The clock is ticking.