6. Full Protection

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 6 shows how Lamine Diack, the boss of world athletics,
conspired with the Russian state to protect their doping system.
Diack is currently awaiting trial in a French court accused of
corrupting the very sport he was sworn to protect.


Bloodsport is the story of the systematic doping of the 2012 and
2014 Olympics by the Russian state, its subsequent unmasking and
the ongoing fall out amidst the power play of nation against
nation. 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.