Voitto tai kuolema - Venäjän salainen dopingohjelma

by Grigory Rodchenkov, Timo Korppi (Translator)

Venäläisten dopingohjelman ilmiantajan odotettu paljastuskirja

Venäjän johtavana doping-eksperttinä toiminut Grigori Rodtšenkov paljastaa sensaatiokirjassaan kaiken entisen kotimaansa dopingohjelmasta

Marraskuussa 2015 Kansainvälinen antidoping-toimikunta Wada paljasti laajassa raportissaan, että venäläiset urheilijat olivat syyllistyneet systemaattiseen valtion tukemaan dopingiin. Erityisesti yksi nimi toistui raportissa usein: Grigori Rodtšenkov, Moskovan antidoping-laboratorion johtaja.

Kun itse Vladimir Putin julisti televisiossa, että syylliset tultaisiin etsimään ja he tulisivat kantamaan vastuunsa, Rodtšenkov ymmärsi saaneensa kuolemantuomion. Hän pakkasi reppuunsa kaikkein välttämättömimmän ja onnistui poistumaan maasta mukanaan tietokoneensa. Sen kovalevyn tiedot osoittivat, ettei Wada tiennyt vielä puoliakaan Venäjän doping-ohjelmasta.

Tässä kirjassa Rodtšenkov paljastaa kaiken, minkä hän aitiopaikallaan Venäjän johtavana doping-eksperttinä tiesi Neuvostoliiton ja Venäjän dopingohjelmasta. Hän kertoo, miten venäläiset vuosien varrella onnistuivat käyttämään kiellettyjä aineita lähes jokaisessa urheilulajissa.

Voitto tai kuolema on kuin kylmän sodan aikaan sijoittuva hyytävä trilleri – paitsi että tämä tarina on tosi.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Politics, Biography, History, Russia, Memoir

320 pages, Hardcover

Published July 30, 2020

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Being involved in the sports world myself, I have been following most of the major developments of the Russian doping scandal over the years, and had also watched Icarus a few years ago. I sort of knew the big lines of it all and Rodchenkov's role. But this book brings a whole new layer of insanity. I don't understand how everybody in the general public isn't talking about some stories in there. One being that the Soviet Union didn't actually boycott 1984 in retaliation for the USA's 1980 boycott, but rather because the Americans had loudly claimed to possess new, stricter doping controls in their Olympic lab (which the Soviets didn't have), so the nation freaked and pulled the plug at the last minute to not attend these Olympics. Like, WHAT?

Grigory Rodchenkov, former director of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory and now whistleblower under witness protection in the U.S., makes gigantic claims. He talks about doping in Russian sports so casually, so liberally, that it's very disconcerting at times. I suppose it gets his point across that doping is basically part of the culture there, and not many see it as a problem, particularly when sports is so important in Russia, and when becoming an Olympic or World champion gets you so many perks from the state.

Rodchenkov discusses his personal career, how he rose to become the head of Moscow's lab for a decade, some of the hurdles and investigations launched against him by his own country (which I found quite ironic), as well as some of the doping programs some "doping witch doctors" (enter the infamous Portugalov) would implement for chosen athletes across many sports. Of course, he also goes into the entire Sochi Olympics scandal, the Dutchess cocktail, FSB's role in managing to delicately open the (not) tamper-proof B samples to swap urine, the power of the state, and really everything that led up to this point. The process was so sophisticated, so flawlessly executed, that I had to remind myself I wasn't reading a fiction, spy-inspired novel.
It was fascinating to get this insider's perspective, showing the widespread corruption and how truly rotten to the core the entire system has been, from coaches, to DCOs, to doctors, to government officials, to researchers at the supposedly anti-doping lab.

After reading this, I went back and watched the documentary with the Stepanovs that started it all back in late 2014 (“The Secrets of Doping: How Russia makes its Winners”), which Rodchenkov mentions a few times in his book as well.
Honestly with all of this, it is nearly impossible to believe that, 1/any Russian athlete is clean at this point, and 2/ the nation itself is ever going to change because doping is so embedded in its culture since the Soviet era, even recently to the point of again falsifying lab files (which ultimately led to WADA's ban for 2020 and 2022) or the very recent sacking of RUSADA's head Yuri Ganus, who had been very vocal against doping (well, at least he isn't mysteriously dead, yet).

The writing is fairly basic and the book overall needs some more editing, but the content itself is incredible and mind-blowing. Recommended read (and watch) if you're interested in Olympic sports and the Russian doping affair.

[Katie.dorny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant and detailed memoir about the man who built and then single handedly destroyed the Russian doping scheme.

Listen to the audiobook was a brilliantly immersive experience. The detail, storytelling and everything else rolled into one ended up turning this story into a book that would be a bestseller in fiction.

[tilda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piti mennä jo nukkumaan, mutta oli pakko kuunnella tämä loppuun. Niin koukuttava ja aihe todella mielenkiintoinen.

Grigori Rodtsenkov oli yksi pääjehuista yhden kaikkien aikojen suurimman olympiaskandaalin takana. Venäläiset urheilijat käyttivät vuosia systemaattisesti dopingia ja anti-doping henkilöt sumuttivat kaikkia mahdollisia tutkijoita ja osallistuivat aktiivisesti huijaamiseen. Käskyt tähän kaikkeen tulivat ylempää, mm. Vladimir Putinilta ja Venäjän urheiluministeriltä. Kirjassaan Rodtsenkov kertoo oman näkemyksensä tapahtumista ja valottaa vähän myös omaa henkilökohtaista elämäänsä. Tällä hetkellä Rodtsenkov elää peitenimellä ja poliittisen turvapaikan turvin Yhdysvalloissa.

Mä olen aina seurannut paljon urheilua eikä tämä dopingskandaali todellakaan mennyt aikanaan multa ohitse. Kirjassa kerrotut väitteet ovat uskomattomia, mutta valitettavasti totta. Usko puhtaaseen huippu-urheiluun on vuosi vuodelta vähentynyt ja tämän kirjan jälkeen uskoa on vielä vähemmän. Rodtsenkovn omat näkemykset dopingista olivat mielenkiintoisia ja aika erikoisiakin. Laittoivat todellakin ajattelemaan. Miten määritellään puhdas tai rehellinen urheilija?

Suosittelen kaikille penkkiurheilijoille! Tai no, en ehkä siinä tapauksessa, jos haluaa pitää kiinni siitä ajatuksesta, että huippu-urheilu on puhdasta.

[Tomas Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toto je neuveriteľná jazda. Bývalý šéf antidopingového a zároveň dopingového programu v Rusku píše svoju biografiu, od detských čias, keď mu mama prvýkrát pichala steroidy pred bežeckými pretekmi dorastencov v Bratislave, cez bohatú kariéru riadenia dopingu pre pár generácií ruských športovcov až po útek do Ameriky.

Najdetailnejšie sa venuje zrejme najväčšiemu športovému podvodu všetkých čias, kolosálnemu systému falšovania vzoriek ruských športovcov na olympiáde v Soči, ktorému sám šéfoval, až na úroveň vlastoručného prestrkávania vzoriek cez špeciálne vyrobený otvor v stene do vedľajšej budovy postavenej výhradne pre FSB na účely tajného otvárania neotvoriteľných fliaš a výmeny moči ruských športovcov za čistú.

Treba brať mierne s rezervou ako vždy, keď sa niekto priznáva k zločinom, ale nikdy neviete, či úplne ku všetkým, ale celkovo je to absolútne neuveriteľné šialenstvo.
Vyjde aj v slovenčine v roku 2021.

[Viliam Čizmazia · Rating 5 out of 5]

To ako je to dobre vybudovane a vyrozpravane je v zavere i tak prekonane sokom z toho, ze je to ozajstne.

[Kirkirvarpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kažkur už tūkstančių kilometrų, Pekine, šiuo metu šimtai sportininkų yra suvažiavę į vieną didžiausių sporto renginių - žiemos olimpines žaidynes. Na ir kas, kad ten nėra nei kruopelytės tikro sniego, o pasaulyje siaučia covidas - šiems laikams tai ne problema. Dirbtinis sniegas, kaukės net varžybų metu, tuščios tribūnos. Tokia šiemet olimpiada.
Skaityti šią knygą vykstant olimpiadai - dar didesnis malonumas. Arba tiksliau ne malonumas, o apima dar didesnis pasibaisėjimo jausmas - kiek sportininkų varžybose dalyvauja be dopingo? Kiek naujų schemų sukurta, kad būtų apeitos antidopingo sistemos? Kiek antidopingo centrai prisideda prie kovos su nesąžiningo sporto pavyzdžiais, o kiek tarnauja pagalbininkais, kad nešvarūs sportininkai būtų slapčia apvalyti?
Ši knyga atskleidžia 30-ies metų Rusijos antidopingo centro veiklą. Centras niekada nekovojo su uždraustų aparatų vartojimų. Atvirkščiai, gelbėjo rusų sportininkus iš pačių nemaloniausių situacijų, patardavo, ką vartoti ir kada nebevartoti, kad tyrimai parodytų švarų organizmą. Šios machinacijos epogėjų pasiekė per Sočio olimpines žaidynes, kai tuo metu turbūt pažangiausioje pasaulio dopingo tyrimo laboratorijoje prasuko neįtikėtiną schemą, kurios metu sukeisdavo "nešvarius" šlapimo mėginius su iš anksto paruoštais švarutėliais.
Rusijos pavyzdys turbūt labiausiai išvystytas ir šokiruojantis. Bet ar Rusija vienintelė, kurioje antidopingo agentūros veikia nešvaraus sporto naudai? Vargu.
Per paskutinius 30 metų daug žingsnių buvo žengta, kad sportas taptų švaresnis. Bet po kiekvieno didelio skandalo atsirasdavo dar išmanesnės klastojimo schemos. Pavyzdžiui, dviračių sportas. Garsusis dviratininkas Armstrongas buvo septyniskart Tour de France lenktynių čempionas. Savo titulus jis pelnė nugalėjęs vėžį. Oho! Šlovė ir miilijonų sirgalių meilė garantuota. Iki kol nepaaiškėjo, kad didysis Lencas visa tai pasiekė sukūręs gudrią schemą su kraujo perpilymu. Dviračių sporte dopingo visada buvo labai daug. Pamenat, mūsų Rumšą ir jo žmonos automobilyje rastus medikamentus? O paskui paslaptingai mirusį Rumšą jaunesnįjį? Dviračių sportas dabar deklaruoja, kad apsivalė ir yra visiškai švarus. Tik ar tikrai taip? Ar tikrai esame liudininkai, kai gulbė iš bjauraus ančiuko virsta į kerinčiai grakštų paukštį?
Turbūt daugiau kaip pusė dviratininkų deklaruoja esantys astmatininkai. Sutapimas? Labai dažna liga? Gal. O gal tiesiog viena mažytė (ne)reikšminga detalė - atliekant dopingo testus astmatikų organizme leidžiama didesnė koncentracija tam tikrų medžiagų. Kurios suvartojamos su vaistais. Arba su, pavadinkime, dopingu, kas leidžia greičiau atstatyti jėgas. O tai juk dar vienas žingsnelis arčiau pergalės.
Deja, tai tik vienas iš paprasčiausių būdų sistemą pritaikyti nešvaraus sporto naudai. Kiek kur kas sudėtingesnių schemų šiuo metu vykdoma ar dar bus sukurta?

[Debby Binns · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a 5 star read in terms of the story. However, I will never warm to Rodchenkov, his story whilst fascinating only deserves 1 star for me. The heading of the book implies he is a hero - but I don't see him as a hero at all. He lied to the Olympic Committee, WADA and masterminded a massive doping scheme at the Sochi Olympics. His lying and cheating started well before then, so by the Sochi Games he was an expert at it.

The whole book left a bad taste in my mouth - it seems the Russians think its wholly acceptable to dope and cheat - he claims that everyone does it. It also seems that the Olympic committees just turn a blind eye - as that is easier than facing up to what is really going on.

However, the story was fascinating and I feel much better informed, particularly about the drugs that athletes take and how it is done so that they aren't detected when entering for sporting events.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fascinating. It really makes you lose faith in "clean sport." Rodchenkov is hard to figure out. He calls the athletes "cheaters" and "abusers" for doping, but also explains multiple times why doping is necessary and not (necessarily) harmful. I enjoyed reading a book from the perspective of sometime who isn't hard-core anti-doping, for once. (To be clear, I'm not pro-doping! But I think the topic is more interesting and nuanced than a bunch of angry slogans.)

[Tzack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself deserves 5 stars. The author deserves zero. The subtitle "How I Brought Down Russia's Secret Doping Empire" implies he is some sort of hero. He is a despicable person. The subtitle should be: "How I Helped Russia Cheat Other Olympians Out Of Medals For Years And Was Proud Of It."

The author is an admitted liar and cheat to constantly denied wrongdoing, flat-out lied to WADA and was a mastermind of Russia's massive doping scheme at the Sochi Olympics (but also going back much further).

His claims that the doping only changed the color of the medals, and that they were destined to hit the podium anyway, is laughable and a slap at every other Olympic athlete. I can't remember a book making me more angry.

This is a story that needed to be told, but I have zero sympathy for this guy. The $$$ he won as the Sports Book of the Year maybe should go to the German athlete that he turned in on a bogus/borderline test so the IOC would have a scalp, thereby keeping the heat off the Russians.

This guy deserves no praise or plaudits. He is a drug cheat as reprehensible as all the cheating athletes.

[meri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johan oli tarina. Osin tämä oli tuttu jo jostain parin vuoden takaisesta Kuukausiliitteen jutusta. Kirja oli kiinnostava ja nopeatempoinen pituudestaan huolimatta, joskin eri virastojen nimilyhenteet saivat välillä pään pyörälle. Kirjan englanninkielinen nimi on jotain että ”how I brought down Putin’s doping empire” tms mikä indikoi Rodchenkovin olleen tarinan sankari jo ennen kuin asiat menivät hänen kohdallaan pieleen. Hänen suhtautumisensa dopingiin onkin erikoinen osa kirjaa, sillä hän tavallaan sekä ihannoi että puhuu sen puolesta mutta myös lopulta on se avainhahmo joka paljasti tuon dopingvyyhdin ja sanoo olevansa oikealla, totuuden puhujien puolella.

Sopiva luettava pian Pohjois-Koreasta kertovan kirjan jälkeen – yhtymäkohtia valtioiden välillä on edelleen melko paljon.

[Aleksi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Todella silmiä avaava kertomus steroideista ja niiden käytöstä. Rodchenkov avaa hyvin omaa henkilökohtaista näkemystään steroideista ja sitä, miksi doping on yleistä melkein maailman jokaisessa lajissa.
Välillä kertomus meni niin käsittämättömäksi, että sitä on suorastaan vaikea uskoa. Mutta kun kyseessä on Venäjä, niin mikä vain siellä, voi sittenkin olla mahdollista.

Annan kertomukselle arvosanan 3/5. Sillä alku oli todella mukaansa tempaava ja jatkuvasti herätteli mielenkiintoani. Mutta tiputin arvosanaani siksi, sillä välillä kertomus meni niin överiksi, ja vaikeaksi seurata, että mitä pidemmälle luin, sitä enemmän toivoin, että kirja jo päättyisi, sillä tiesinhän loppuratkaisun.. Rodechenkov pääsi pakoon..

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, this is a very tricky book to rate. For the content, for the utter slap in the face of those athletes who do their best without doping, I want to give zero stars. For the content that is not really new if you've seen "Icarus", I would give 3 stars. But I guess it's the new content and the way this makes for a fast, extremely interesting read, I've decided this gets 4 stars.

Rodchenkov himself is a very troubling storyteller. While he doesn't pretend to be innocent, especially in the end when he's turned into a whistleblower, it feels he wants to be seen as a better person than he is. After all, he spent years manipulating doping tests and results, cheating the system, and from what I can tell, did not feel bad about it. So, even though he now wants to air all the dirty laundry Russia has, go into details about how they cheated and lied to everyone who's ever cared about sports, you can't take his story entirely as it is. I mean, if the loop around him hadn't started to close in, would he still keep doing what he did? Would we still be watching Russian athletes, doped to the max, win gold medals while those who compete clean lose to them?

I guess the biggest merit this book has is in detailing out the extent of Russia's deceit. Because really, the systematic, state-run manipulation has been going on for decades and I think it was impossible to understand just from the articles paraphrasing the McLaren report. At times it was difficult to keep up with what was going on as things get pretty detailed and you'd need to understand chemistry and how the entire doping control process works to be able to keep up with every single move and detail.

But really, if you care about sports, if you've watched the documentary and want to know more about what has been going on in Russia all these years, this book gives great insight into that. And it also makes you wonder if something like this is going on somewhere else (probably is) and when that is going to blow over.

[Gabby Bytautaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 👏🏼

[Michala Hromeková · Rating 4 out of 5]

Napisane je to naozaj zaujimavo a putavo, avsak mam trosku moralny problem prepnut “len tak” ako autor z jednej strany na druhu a tvarit sa, ze zrazu oni su ti najhorsi, hlavne po tom vsetkom, co sa udialo a na com sa podielal. Zavana mi to trosku alibizmom. Kazdopadne, velmi podnetne citanie na nejaku dalsiu diskusiu.

[Sasha Kurup · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for everyone who watches the Olympics. Or follows any international sporting event.
This book and the documentary 'Icarus' perfectly compliment each other, they explore different areas, and come together to form a diptych of the doping scandal. You can make your own conclusions about Dr. Rodchenkov, a rather interesting character, but one thing is for sure- this is a an account from the eye of the storm. And he writes well enough.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rodchenkov affair is a memoir chronicling the life of Grigory Rodchenkov, a Russian “anti-doping expert” in name only turned whistleblower who currently lives in exile in the USA. Rodchenkov assisted with maintaining and further elevating Russia’s centralized and state-sponsored doping machine, with an elaborate cheating scheme at the 2014 Sochi Olympics being its magnum opus. Rodchenkov’s part in the deal is further masterfully exposed and explored in the 2017 documentary “Icarus”.

The book is straightforward, candid and to the point, with sports and doping being the main focus. Like many of his soviet contemporaries, the author developed a passion for sports in his youth and became a successful amateur track and field athlete before getting immersed into academia. It is in chemistry and doping control where Rodchenkov found his true calling in life.

The book does not shy away from exposing multiple cases of corruption and cover ups within Russian sports and athletics as well as dropping names of athletes and officials. Nor does the author deny any of his participation in systemic corruption - on the contrary, for large parts of the book, he displays a somewhat smug attitude and even takes wicked pride in his multiple achievements of hacking the sports and anti-doping system.

“The Rodchenkov Affair” is gripping, dynamic, intriguing and it reads like a political thriller - even though the author was active in a very specialized sphere, I as a reader never felt bored with how the affairs, interactions and drama between the many political players of russian sports were illustrated. Another great point of the book is that he has done his best to present the complicated world of doping chemistry in a simple and accessible way for the casual reader. Jargon is clearly explained and Rodchenkov does his best to illustrate his experiences clearly without getting into the gritty details which may make them hard to follow.

Now a few points which could have made the book even greater:

- While the book does an excellent job of documenting and explaining the “how” of doping corruption, it would have been wonderful if more focus on the “why” had been added too. More passages on self-reflection and Rodchecnkov’s inner world could have shed light on how his mindset developed and evolved. After all, he changed his mind from never questioning his actions or even justifying them to finally taking the huge leap forward to talk publicly about Russia’s doping system and cover up.
Instead, there were only a few paragraphs describing how he became disillusioned and suspicious of the Russian state.

- In addition, it would have also been great to answer the “why” by exploring why the Soviet Union, Russia and especially Putin put such great emphasis on sports and valued it so much as a propaganda tool. This analysis could have further tied it to the Russian media propaganda machine (the implications of which are sadly more relevant than ever now considering the atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine).

- Moreover, while the focus is the Russian doping system (rightfully so, since this is Rodchenkov’s major area of expertise and Russia had one of the most elaborate, massive and long-running doping programs in history), the author also alludes to similar organized practices being present in other countries. It would have been very interesting to know how deep does the issue really go, and whether countries outside of the Iron Curtain were also actively and systemically cheating on the world stage.

- Finally, while the first chapters of the book were excellent at presenting the problems at hand (doping in sports, corruption, cover ups and lies during the Soviet and Russian era), the last few chapters felt a bit rushed and did not bring much new information that was not explored in Icarus already - in a way, they felt like a slightly expanded retelling of the documentary.

[Hanzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first saw this book I thought it was going to be a piece of detailed journalism. It would be about a person named Rodchenkov who led a doping scandal. The writer would say Rodchenkov destroyed the dreams of many athletes and therefore he is a villain. The author would mention several recent doping scandals and argue that today’s doping regulations are too weak.

My prediction turned out to be totally wrong. The Rodchenkov Affair was a book written by Grigory Rodchenkov, a man who led the secret doping empire of Russia. He helped Russian athletes not get caught after using prohibited drugs – especially in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. But he is also the man who destroyed the doping empire he had once led – by his own hands.

The most interesting part in this book was the author himself. Grigory Rodchenkov wrote a whole book about all the cheats he himself had done to help Russian dopers. This book is probably the most honest and straightforward book I have ever read. Rodchenkov does not take out anything from his story. He does not fake anything or lie about anything, either. He just tells the truth. And it’s coming from someone who was inside the scheme. So, the depth is different compared to pieces written by journalists outside the schemes. It’s very detailed and honest, so it’s so shocking, so fresh and so thrilling. I felt like I was actually walking down the hallways of the anti-doping center, or hurriedly heading to the plane gates on the way to exile. It was like stepping into the memories of Rodchenkov. The word “memoir” could not be more fitting.

Also, this book is not just about doping. It’s about the life of Rodchenkov – not Dr. Rodchenkov, but Grigory Rodchenkov. I could sense his joy and happiness as well as fear, anxiety and complex worries. One big reason I liked this book was that it showed Rodchenkov’s life itself – and especially his life as a Russian. I never knew Russia was such a dangerous place to live. If you say something against the government, you may disappear one day and never appear again.

The society resembled George Orwell’s 1984 so much. As I continued reading, I began to think that Rodchenkov is just like Winston Smith, the main character in 1984. In 1984, government agencies have ironic names: for example, the Ministry of Truth manipulates the truth and makes people believe wrong information. The Anti-Doping Center in Russia is also ironically named. It’s not anti-doping at all. Also, Winston works for the government at first, but he decides to follow the truth and puts himself in danger. Just like Rodchenkov. It was kind of scary to think that the society in 1984 really existed and still exists now. It was like looking into a world I had never seen before.

Just like I knew almost nothing about the Russian society, I knew almost nothing about the secretive doping schemes. The doping scandals in this book were much more serious than I had thought. I knew that there are many dopers among Russian athletes, but I never knew doping was encouraged in a national level. What would happen if Russian athletes stopped their doping programs? The medalists in Olympics will probably change. The seriousness of the doping issues was shocking and intriguing at the same time.

But above all, I would like to applaud the author for his honesty. Of course, what he did was wrong and cannot be tolerated. He destroyed the dreams of many athletes. However, even though he is guilty, he must have had a great deal of courage to step up and tell the truth. Every piece of the truth. It’s especially hard when you have to risk your entire life – your lifestyle, your daily life, and basically your life itself. (It’s a life-and-death situation.) Frankly speaking, if I was Rodchenkov and if I was in his position, I don’t think I’d ever be able to be honest and tell the truth. It just needs a great deal of courage. Thanks to these brave whistleblowers like Rodchenkov, we can see the world through a more accurate and less distorted view. In that sense, the author deserves applauds.

To sum up, this was the most honest and the bravest book I have ever read. I didn’t give it five stars because the part about WADA inspections felt a little bit repeated near the middle of the book. But other than that, this book was amazing. Easy to read and understand, while being unique, shocking and groundbreaking.

Even though what he did was wrong, I want to give Rodchenkov a big hand for his exceptional bravery.

[Augusto Bernardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a giant fan of the movie Icarus. In fact it's one of my favorite movies and it might be one of the most unique and insane stories of all time so I am very familiar with the content of this book. So I wasn't surprised at any point in this book. This book does reveal a more intricate and in depth look on the doping program which indeed was fascinating but I guess this book is really for the big fans of Icarus who wanted a more inside perspective.
What I particularly liked was Grigory's perspective of the soviet union and life in Russia. Not necessarily that his life is a good representation of the common man in the soviet union, but rather that he lived this bizarre dual life that is so representative of the twisted and scheming ways of the soviet union itself. At least from the western perspective. This constant fear and anxiety of this danger which never really reveals itself explicitly but is always somehow vigilant in the office as a fsb worker, maybe listening into phone calls, saying one thing to you and flat out the opposite in public. No wonder Grigory is such a fan of the novel 1984. His life is the shade of gray. Neither fully black or white. Although he is quite literally a criminal, his crime being fraud at a gigantic scale, he is a very likeable and relatable guy and you really care and feel for his living situation now. Goes to show the humanity in all sorts of people.
A more fascinating perspective about Grigory in specific was his understanding and use of steroids and the doping program. All sorts of steroids that I had never even heard of. Grigory shows how knowledgeable he is in regards to the chemical aspect of steroids and also creative he is in order to use that knowledge to somehow fool the authorities. As someone that does sports on a daily basis, I'm not gonna lie, I was jealous that I don't have the access to this advanced program. It simply isn't possible to do it safely and legally without the help from a 20 million dollar lab. What I was looking forward to was Grigory dropping some names of athletes that took part of the doping program. And sure enough he did actually reveal quite a few champions even but unfortunately I simply don't have the knowledge of the names of Russian Olympic champions. It was quite funny how dumb and how insignificant their opinion or influence on the whole scheme was.
Something else which was unique to this book as opposed to the movie was that it have you a much better perspective on someone who grew up and lived in the late Soviet Union. Grigory shows how resources from the external world were very rare. Everything from literature to medicine. After the fall of the soviet union things got even more sure with poverty which is something the West would NEVER advertise it portray the difficulty of dealing with the collapse of life for the people that lived in that system. He also showed how east Germany, although being communists themselves like the Soviet Union, were a country of their own and actually had better resources for some things and we're great sports cheaters in their time as well.

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never knew about the sochi’s doping scandal. They were just so shocking and unbelievable. If Russia could manage to fake all their doping results and get away, all of sports as we know it would be ruined. We just wouldn’t know it. However, thanks to the bravery of Grigory Rodchenkov, the author of this book, the sports world wasn’t completely ruined.

Starting from the soviet era, Grigory Rodchenkov worked for the USSR’s anti doping center. However, it was corrupt, turning blind eyes to its doping athletes. After the downfall of the soviets, he worked for Russia’s national, state sponsored anti doping laboratory (which was also corrupt). In the 2014 winter olympic games in Sochi, he ran the anti doping lab but instead of catching the dopers, they swapped the urine of doping athletes to make them look clean. Thankfully, in 2016, after fleeing to the US, Mr Rodchenkov revealed everything to the public. After some investigations, it was revealed that Mr Rodchenkov’s accusations were true and Russia faced a partial ban from the next olympics.

One thing I would like to do is applaud the author of this book on his bravery. Although he had made huge mistakes in the past, he has partially mended the wound by confessing about the doping. Some may argue that he had no choice, but it still takes a lot of bravery to stand up against the entire nation of Russia. Thanks to this we can hope that sporting olympics these days are competed without Russian dopers.

Also, in the aspect of the interestingness of a book, this book is brilliant. From how they managed to swap the bottles of urine, to Mr Rodchenkov escaping to the US, it is all explained in this book. This book honestly is one of the best non-fiction books I have read so far.

Anyways due to those factors, I believe this book deserves 5 stars

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a confession. While reading this book, I wasn't able to get this uncomfortable feeling inside myself, because this book was just like a serial killer confessing his crimes and writing down very specifically about how each of the victims were killed. Of course, a doping scheme may not be as graphic as murdering, but they all cause heavy damage in this world.

Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, who is the confessor in this case, was one of the ringleaders of Russia's doping scheme, obviously supported by the sports minister of Russia and the president of Russia, the person who you know well. He was the one who conducted and executed most of Russia's big doping project. After years and years of being at the rather untriumphant backstage of Russia's 'golden triumph' at the Olympic games, he finally came to realize that this was a problem, and decided that he should let the world know what has happened all this time.

Today, Dr. Grigory is living a hiding life, struggling to keep away from Russia doing its revenge on him. He lives with terror that someday, Russian assassins might sneak up and end his life. He already expected that life won't be the same if he reveals Russia's deep secret would mean that his life would likely be harder. However, he still did it. He revealed the truth, the truth which everyone deserves to know about.

Dr. Grigory is a criminal, and his crimes clearly wasn't something like sneaking an eraser from the kid next door, but something that left a very big blow on the whole sports field. I also am very aware of that point, and it's very clear that in normal procedure, he should be paying for his wrongdoings by now. However, even if he does eventually gets punished by the law, that should be after the whole deal is properly over. That 'proper ending' to this doping scheme is proper punishment, which is more than giving punishment to the people involved in the project's operation, and the people who were supporting and controlling the whole project to initiate and move on. It is when every single athlete, every single officials, and every single person can be 100% positive that the same thing won't happen ever again.

In the end, I do think Dr. Grigory should be punished according to law to prevent any other events like these from repeating itself in the future. I think it's important to make it crystal clear that cheating is not a light deal that you'll get away with some five letters: 'sorry.', that it will get you inevitable punishment. However, as long as this doping scheme isn't completely over and Dr. Grigory is constantly on the truth's side, law could wait for a while.

[John MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

The winner of the 2020 William Hill Sports Book Of The Year annual literary competition, and highlighted by Matt on Simon Mayo’s book Podcast , which is recommended enough for me!
On the plus side , the narrative is brilliantly translated, and reads like a Cold War / contemporary spy novel in places
The Author was at the forefront of industrial scale doping / cheating , on behalf of the Russian sports authorities from the 1980s until 2016 , enabling the false winning of ,multiple gold medals, and world records in successive Summer and Winter Olympic Games!
He also masqueraded as a member of various IOC anti- doping committee’s, while consistently tampering with his own countries athletes lab samples to falsify random testing
These actions have inevitably come back to bite , Dr Gregory , in that he’s separated from his family in exile,and effectively in Witness Protection in the US , nevertheless it’s difficult for this reader to have too much sympathy, as one remembers the stories of the hard work and sacrifice of clean athletes , many of whom, had their dreams shattered by this criminality
In conclusion, I found the abbreviations for the various Sporting Bodies, and chemicals / drugs throughout this story, confusing at times - read in Kindle form, thus accessing the glossary was problematic, and to be fair I initially thought I would be more interested in the subject matter than I turned out to be ( which is down to me , not the book, it has to be said)

[Christopher Kelsall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rodchenkov Affair by Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov is a self-penned biographical account of the greatest doping scandal in sports history. He played a major role in enabling dirty Russian athletes to “test clean” prior to international competitions. He was the head of the Moscow Laboratory as well as the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics on-site laboratory. He wasn’t just a cog in the system, he was the gear train that enabled widespread and state-supported doping.

No wonder, as the story begins in earnest when, at age 22, his mother injects him with a performance-enhancing drug at the family home. At the time, he was a student-athlete at Moscow State University. For the remainder of the book, the cringe-worthy “truth” is fired at the reader like a Kalashnikov 54mm unloading its rounds into Afghanistan.

By writing this book, Rodchenkov attempts to come clean. He doesn’t want forgiveness, as he is no hero. He is quick to point fingers, but he is even quicker to accept credit for bringing Russia down. By all accounts, however, he wasn’t the only whistleblower to end Russia’s participation in international sport.

Read on: https://athleticsillustrated.com/book...

[N · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember 3 weeks ago when the worst thing Russia was up to was state-sponsored doping of a 15-year-old girl at the Olympics? Good times.

The Rodchenkov Affair is a genuinely wild story, of the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction ilk, about rampant doping in sports and how far Russia has been willing to go to get Olympic medals.

Hey, guess what, if you want to take steroids, why not mix them up with whiskey? Swill it around in your mouth and then spit it out, because it makes the steroids harder to detect in urine tests. For that matter, don't worry about your drug-taking remaining undetectable. Because Rodchenkov and his team of 'magicians' will swap out your tainted urine for 'clean' urine. How? Just drill a 'mousehole' in the hotel room used for official testing, and pass the urine samples through to the neighbouring room.

The content of this book is crazy. What's lacking is the storytelling. The whole thing is flat, flat, flat. Rodchenkov suffers a truly devastating fate for his whistleblowing on Russia; he'll probably never see his family again and he's forced to keep moving from place to place to avoid detection. Yet there's no introspection, no soul-searching in this book. It's honestly pretty dull.

[Lindsey Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars!! That said, I feel conflicted about this book. I am still confused at the author’s motives at telling all of this. Did he mean to become a whistleblower or just stumble into that role? I was hoping this book would clear that up (I watched the documentary first and it was equally ambiguous). The closest thing to an explanation the author gives is “life got boring” after Sochi Olympics cheat scam was over, so he decided to tell all? Of course everything he unearths is shocking and fascinating (and disheartening if you’re a believer of clean sports) but really truly an extremely fascinating, quick read. It doesn’t make me idolize him though, and the title is a little deceiving. He didn’t bring down Putin’s doping programme, he actually spearheaded it for years and then accidentally found himself in danger and bored and let out all the details and then tried to save himself under the title “whistleblower.” These nuances actually make this a good read and would be an interesting discussion. He doesn’t seem to think his actions were dishonest and he doesn’t seem to take a lot of culpability for them.


If you’ve watched the documentary “Icarus” about Russia’s extensive doping history and fraud, this book is an extension of that. I thought it was hard to follow all the names and even sometimes the procedures and drugs and chemistry behind it all, but I’m still giving it four stars because it’s fascinating (and totally illegal). I also found it interesting to read a firsthand account from someone who could be considered a criminal - People are complex!! . Also, four stars because it gives a look into what it would be like to brush shoulders with people like Mutko or Putin, or live in Russia. Definitely recommend, especially if you’re into the Olympics of anything Russian.

[Grada (BoekenTrol) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really made me angry.
It was interesting, no doubt about that and, having a bit of information on the way of life in the Soviet Union, it was not very surprising.
When I was young, I played an instrument, for fun. I joined an orchestra, also for fun, to make music with others and perform every once in a while.
When I told that to people in Russia (SU-times), they didn't understand that concept. You either okay to be the best,vbit if you're incapable of reaching that level, you quit.

I think the same idea is behind all things mentioned in this book. If a sporter, a team isn't the best, they aren't worth a thing, they'd better stop.

What made me do very angry is, that this book makes me doubt every sporter in every sport I love and love to watch. Of course I was aware of the scandals, but I had too many other things on my mind to really let it sink in what the fuss was all about.
This book took that role. And did a good job. Now I need some time to recover and see if I ever can go back to watching 'my' sports with pleasure again.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of the headline stories about Russian doping are now well known, but it is still fairly shocking to read about the sheer scale of the operation, backed up by detailed notes from one of the men at the centre of the programme.

There are a lot of questions still to be answered about the efficacy of anti-doping, the attitude and approach of the IOC and WADA, the scale of doping in other countries, and whether Russia can envisage training elite athletes without doping.

Rodchenkov may have decided to tell the truth but I struggled slightly with his pride at his 'achievements' and his lack of remorse. One line really stood out: "I was angry. It was true that, as lawyers say, I came to these proceedings with 'unclean hands', but I felt our sins were few and our accomplishments many."

I'm glad I read this book, but did I enjoy reading it? Not really. The extent of cheating, how ingrained it is into so many Russian athletes lives, and the likelihood other countries are running doping programmes all cast a huge shadow.

[codenamerogue · Rating 5 out of 5]

By my definition, a 'whistle-blower' is a man who dwells in an ambiguous netherworld, where a perverse pride in his past unethical achievements coexists with a desire to expose the corrupt system that successfully nurtured him for so long.

Riveting. Although the broad strokes of this story were already known to me, this remarkable firsthand account provided fascinating insight and context; I couldn't put the book down.

Turns out the title of the book is bafflingly misleading, as the book's conclusion explicitly drives home the fact that anti-doping efforts are a "never-ending war" that cannot be won.

People ask me to compare how Americans go about their lives with how Russians live, but the difference is too vast - Russian and the USA are like completely different planets. There is a massive civilization gap between the two countries, which I think is unlikely to be bridged, or even understood, in the foreseeable future.

[Dominic Borg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was expecting more from this book, with regards to motive, the ‘why’ behind all this. Ultimately I think that not only Rodchenkov was a cheat, but also a traitor. He was part of a system he was proud of, but at some point he decided to turn against his own (team, doings, system etc). He seems to boast and has the urge to tell the world how great he was, bragging about his cocktail (was it even used?) and how they beat the testing. No smart doings from such a ‘great’ chemist. Nothing impresses me about what he did, maybe one thing how he chose to be a traitor over safeguarding himself and his family. Every informed person knows how widespread PEDs and how corrupt the system is. Such stories are only a fraction of what goes on, which makes you realize that WADA is a joke, national associations are no better and high level sport is not what most people think it is. Sad but true!

[Markus Lustig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huikea tarina, joka taitaa olla vielä kesken. Sekä Rodchenkovin että Venäjän dopingohjelman osalle. Usko puhtaaseen urheiluun karisi tätä kirjaa lukiessa ja skeptisyys valtasi alaa.

Kirja kertoo Sotshin olympialaisten systemaattisesta dopinghuijauksesta, miten siihen päästiin ja miten se paljastui. Tarina on karu ja oikeastaan vain alleviivaa vuosien 2020 ja 2021 tapahtumia Venäjällä, Alexei Navalnyin kohtaloa ja piirtää selkeää kuvaa Venäjän tavasta suhtautua omiin kansalaisiinsa, oikeuteen ja totuuteen.

Kirja käy jopa eräänlaisesta dekkaritarinasta, mutta rikos on todellinen. Niinhän sitä sanotaan, että totuus on tarua ihmeellisempää, ja tämä kirja vahvistaa sen.

Rodchenkovin olisi tiedemiehenä kannattanut pitäytyä kuivassa ja selkeässä kirjoitustyylissä, muutamat valitut ja hassusti pudotellut kielikuvat enemmän huvittivat kuin toivat tekstiin eloa.

[Chris Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating is three stars, but my interest in the topic and my enjoyment of reading it was higher than that. Easy and fascinating. It's astonishing how much GR reveals in these pages.

A bit disorganized at times, but I understand why as GR had to get this story out quickly. The complexities of the operation involved a large number of players, and it was hard to keep up on those identities on occasion. Part of that is, admittedly, being an American with limited ability to differentiate between what - to me - are similar-sounding Russian names.

I still can't believe that this story is in print, fully disclosed. What a treat to be able to be a witness to this account. But of course, that comes at a price. I still fear for GR's well-being, and he is a brave man for his instrumental part in this scandal being made public.