Der Spiegel: Rodchenkov’s signature under the IOC testimony is fake

Experts of the German newspaper Der Spiegel confirmed that the signature of the former Director of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov under the testimony on doping cases of former biathletes Olga Zaitseva, Yana Romanova and Olga Vilukhina is a fake. This is reported on the newspaper’s website.

During the proceedings before the court of arbitration for Sport (CAS), the international Olympic Committee (IOC) initially submitted nine written statements from Rodchenkov. Earlier, the lawyer for Russian athletes Alexey Panich told TASS that independent British and German experts recognized that Rodchenkov’s signature, which was passed by his lawyers through the IOC, is a low-quality fake.

According to an expert opinion provided by Der Spiegel, one digital forensic report concluded that the same file with an image of Rodchenkov’s signature was inserted into two different documents with written testimony. The other seven documents were signed by hand and probably not by Rodchenkov.

“When the defense expressed doubts about the authenticity of the signatures on the first day of the CAS hearing in March, the IOC provided a new affidavit from Rodchenkov within 24 hours, but this does not explain how the signatures in other documents were obtained,” the text says.

The German publication also reported that the man’s DNA found in the doping test of two-time Olympic biathlon champion Olga Zaitseva belongs to the athlete’s husband.”Several testimonies in Swiss-produced materials that Der Spiegel has reviewed in recent weeks not only confirm Zaitseva’s claims of innocence, but also raise questions about the overall credibility of the Sochi conspiracy investigation.

Zaitseva, Romanova and Vilukhina, who finished their professional careers, were banned for life by the IOC in November 2017 for violating anti-doping rules at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Their results at the Games were annulled. Biathletes in Sochi became silver medalists as part of the relay team, together with them in that race was Ekaterina Shumilova. Vilukhina was also denied second place in the sprint. In early March, Zaitseva, Romanova and Vilukhina filed an appeal to the court of arbitration for Sport, the hearing was held in early March, and the decision will be announced later.