By Terin Frodyma on SwimSwam
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that its Operation LIMS, a probe into the Russian state-backed doping program, has reached a major milestone, announcing over 300 sanctions against Russian athletes, seven of whom are swimmers.
According to a press release from WADA, Operation LIMS (which was named based on a variety of data and samples collected from the Laboratory Information Management System, or LIMS, in 2019), managed to forensically recover large amounts of data that had been “manipulated and/or deleted,” therefore leading to a large number of cases against Russian athletes who had been a part of the country’s doping program.
“Put simply, ‘Operation LIMS’ is the most successful investigation in anti-doping history. An incredible 302 sanctions have now been imposed in the wake of Russia’s institutionalized doping scheme,” said WADA President Witolda Bańka in the press release. “It is a testament to the cooperation and dedication of the various International Federations and other Anti-Doping Organizations that have diligently followed up on the evidentiary packages WADA provided to them.”
The release confirms that a total of 302 sanctions have been imposed on 291 athletes, with 11 athletes receiving two sanctions for multiple doping violations by 23 Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs). Additionally, four more athletes have been charged, but their cases are not yet resolved.
“The success of this operation is due in large part to the investment that WADA and the broader anti-doping community have made in intelligence and investigations in recent years,” said WADA‘s Director of Intelligence and Investigations Günter Younger. “We could not have done this on our own – these achievements are only possible when we are united, and we collaborate to deliver real results.”
Sport-By-Sport Breakdown:
Aquatics: 7 Archery: 1 Athletics: 93 * Biathlon: 9.5 Bobsleigh & Skeleton: 9 Boxing: 5 Canoe: 4 Football: 3 Ice Hockey: 4 * Judo: 6 Kettlebell: 1 Pentathlon: 2 Powerlifting: 9 * Rowing: 5 Sambo: 1 Skating: 2 Skiing: 2.5 * Taekwondo: 3 Triathlon: 1 Volleyball: 8 Weightlifting:107 Wrestling: 19* Includes Para-Athletes
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) was reinstated in January 2019, after previously being declared “non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code” by WADA. Through this reinstatement, WADA‘s Intelligence and Investigations teams were able to collect 24 terabytes worth of data from the LIMS lab in Moscow. Through later investigation, WADA found that some of the data was “manipulated”. Still, RUSADA remains non-compliant and is still required to meet the conditions of their reinstatement set in December of 2020 in full.
In 2023, the operation reached 200 sanctions, which at the time marked a massive milestone, but now, according to Bańka, this new mark makes it one of the most successful anti-doping investigations ever.
“Importantly, the decision taken in 2018 to reinstate RUSADA under strict conditions – despite opposition from a vocal minority of critics – was made precisely to get to the truth and formed part of a sophisticated investigative strategy,” Banka said in a report from globalbankingandfinance.com. “Without that decision, we would never have been able to obtain the critical evidence from the Moscow Laboratory needed to prosecute these cases.”
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