Russia's anti-doping lab suspended amid scandal
The World Anti-Doping Agency suspended the accreditation of Moscow's main drug-testing lab Tuesday and the head of Russia's anti-doping agency said the lab had ceased work, a day after explosive allegations that Russia's government was complicit in massive illegal sports doping.
Russia has rejected the allegations, but now could be barred from international athletics, including the next Olympic games, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.
Maria Savinova won gold in the 800-meters at London's 2012 Olympics.
Now she, along with nine other athletes and coaches, face a lifetime ban after the World Anti-Doping Agency reported them as suspected cheats.
American runner Alysia Montano was beaten by Savinova.
"More than anything, you can never give me back those moments. Those moments you stood on top of and you held your head high and proud. I don't see how those individuals could be proud of themselves at that moment," Montano told CBS News.
Russia's victories in athletics championships and Olympic results going back years are now being re-assessed.
The report said not only that athletes were involved, but so too were Russian anti-doping officials and even the state security services. It alleges that Russians engaged in systemic doping, took bribes to conceal test results and destroyed incriminating samples.
"The evidence here does not suggest anything other than a state-appointed system to win at all costs and rob clean athletes on a global playing field," said Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Sport and performance enhancement goes back a long way, right back to the Soviet Union, when winning on the world stage was seen not only as a sporting, but a political victory.
In modern Russia, President Vladimir Putin is leading by example, as he put sports front and center in his campaign to boost the country's prestige, with the high point being the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The anti-doping agency's findings have seriously tarnished Russia's reputation and its credibility as it faces a possible ban on its athletes competing in the next Olympics in Rio.
Russa's bid to hold the 2018 World Cup is also now a subject of a separate corruption investigation.