The revelations of doping in world athletics by the Sunday Times in the U.K. and German broadcaster ARD/WDR portray a dark world similar to the troubles faced by professional cycling in recent years. Secret files kept by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) were passed to media organizations by a whistleblower. The reports point to the conclusion that many leading athletes doped during the period 2001–2012, that not enough was done to prevent this cheating, and that it may still be rife today.
The most striking claim was that a third of medals (146 in total) for endurance events at Olympic Games and world championships, including 55 golds, were awarded to athletes who were possibly doping. Ten of the medals won at the 2012 London Olympics were by athletes now under suspicion. Jessica Ennis-Hill, Denise Lewis, Kelly Sotherton, Jennifer Meadows, Andrew Baddeley and many others will feel cheated of medals, having all been beaten by athletes with reportedly suspicious blood results. Russia and Kenya are singled out by the reports as countries with particularly high numbers of suspects, while seven British athletes are reported to have had suspicious test results.
