9. Strict liability

Bloodsport

Bloodsport is the story of the systematic doping of the 2012 and 2014 Olympics by the Russian state. It is the single most important sports story of our time and it reads like a Cold War thriller. The Evening Standard's sports correspondent Matt Majendie tells the whole story from 2012 till now.

Episode 9 takes us inside the world of doping and looks at the human damage it inflicts. Not just on those cheated but also on the cheats themselves. Coercion, health effects, abuse. It’s not obvious where moral responsibility lies.

For the first time, you’ll hear the whole story from 2012 to 2020 told by the people who were there. You’ll hear from Paula Radcliffe and Sebastian Coe on London 2012, you’ll meet the expert German investigator who cracked the case wide open and from athletes who doped. We’ve got access to the elite Swiss lab racing to finish testing London 2012 samples and we’ve spoken to the guy who masterminded doping control at the London games.

You’ll also hear first-hand testimony from people who blew the whistle inside Russia (at the risk of their own lives) and from seasoned journalists who watched open-mouthed as the whole thing unfolded. And we’ll take you into the ongoing arms race between doper and tester, to see how the science of testing plays out in the analysis of blood and urine samples. Despite it being eight years ago, the story isn’t over. There are unfinished corruption trials in French Courts and ongoing allegations of flagrant Russian cheating (even as the Russian government denies all the evidence). Against all this is the soon-to-be pressing question of whether Russia will participate in the now postponed Tokyo Olympics. The credibility of the Olympic movement might hang on the decision. The clock is ticking.