GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Russia: Playing to Win, No Matter the Cost

Apr 10, 2017 | 09:00 GMT

The geopolitics of Russian doping
The West has been a convenient boogeyman for Russia, a country that has not been shy about testing the boundaries of international rules — whether in sports or geopolitics.

(FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

Editor's Note:

This column is written by Stratfor contributors, a diverse group of thinkers whose expertise inspires rigorous and innovative thought. Their opinions are their own and serve to complement and even challenge our beliefs. We welcome that challenge, and we hope our readers do too.

Middle-distance runner Yuliya Stepanova was once one of Russia's most promising athletes. In 2009, she by chance met a charismatic anti-doping official named Vitaly. It was a meeting that changed her life, and just two months later, the two were married. But the couple, along with their two children, now lives in hiding. The Stepanovas' offense was to provide evidence of a wide-ranging drug program in Russia -- one that was eventually shown to reach beyond even the highest levels of their country's sporting organizations into the halls of the Russian government itself. The scandal set off a firestorm in the world of international sports that gives us insights into how rules are made and enforced, and why they're broken....

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