Inspectors from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have recovered doping data from a Moscow laboratory that has been at the center of Russia's doping suspicions, the agency said on January 17.
Russia was obligated to allow inspectors access to the Moscow lab and data as a condition of the agency's controversial decision in September to provisionally reinstate the Russian anti-doping agency, RUSADA.
"This is a major breakthrough for clean sport," said WADA President Craig Reedie in a statement. "It shows we are continuing to make real progress that simply would not have happened without the 20 September executive committee decision."
A WADA-commissioned report which outlined evidence of systematic, state-backed doping in Russian athletics led to RUSADA being suspended in 2015. Another report a year later documented more than 1,000 doping cases across dozens of sports, most notably at the Winter Olympics that Russia hosted in Sochi in 2014.
WADA is now due to analyze the data for any sign of tampering.
Russian authorities must ensure that the re-analysis of samples required by WADA is completed by June 30 in an accredited lab.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
