TheOswald Commission was a disciplinary commission of theInternational Olympic Committee ("IOC"), chaired by IOC memberDenis Oswald. It was responsible for investigating and ruling ondoping violations by individual Russian athletes at the2014 Winter Olympic Games inSochi.
By December 2017, the commission had banned 43 athletes from the Olympics for life, and retroactively disqualified them from their Sochi Olympic events with 13medals being stripped. 30 of the 43 athletes later successfully appealed to theCourt of Arbitration for Sport and had their sanctions overturned; and another 12 had their doping rulings confirmed, but had their lifetime bans commuted to bans for only the2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.[1][2] One athlete did not appeal. The IOC banned Russia from competing at Pyeongchang as a result of the scandal, instead inviting 169 Russian athletes to compete as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" under the Olympic flag rather than under the Russian flag.[2]
Media attention began growing in December 2014 when German broadcasterARD aired the documentary "Top Secret Doping: How Russia makes its Winners", alleging the existence of a sophisticated, state-sponsored doping system within theAll-Russia Athletic Federation, and comparing it todoping in East Germany.[3] In November 2015, theWorld Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published a report and theInternational Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) suspended Russia indefinitely from world track and field events. The United Kingdom Anti-Doping agency later assisted WADA with testing in Russia. In June 2016, they reported that they were unable to fully carry out their work and noted intimidation by armedFederal Security Service (FSB) agents.[4] After a Russian former lab director made allegations about the2014 Winter Olympics inSochi, WADA commissioned an independent investigation led byRichard McLaren. McLaren's investigation found corroborating evidence, concluding in a report published in July 2016 that theMinistry of Sport and the FSB had operated a "state-directed failsafe system" using a "disappearing positive [test] methodology" (DPM) from "at least late 2011 to August 2015".[5][6]
TheIOC established the Disciplinary Commission and the Inquiry Commissions in July 2016, following the publication of theMcLaren Report. The IOC took this measure sinceProf. McLaren did not have the authority to bring forward Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) cases against individual athletes. After receiving the results from the finalMcLaren Report in December 2016, the IOC opened proceedings against the 28 Russian athletes mentioned in the report (the number later rose to 46,[7] which are now being heard by the Oswald Commission.
On November 1, 2017 a cross-country skierAlexander Legkov who won a gold medal was disqualified and banned for life by the Commission. His Sochi results were wiped from the record. A second Russian cross-country skier who didn't get to the podium was also disqualified and banned for life.[8] 8 days later four more Russian cross-country skiers who won a combined 3 medals were found guilty of doping.[9] The total was brought to ten when four skeleton racers were disqualified on November 22, 2017, two medals (gold and bronze) were stripped off.[10] On November 24, 2017 the IOC imposed life bans on bobsledderAlexandr Zubkov and speed skaterOlga Fatkulina who won a combined 3 medals (2 gold, 1 silver).Olga Stulneva andAleksandr Rumyantsev were also disqualified.[11] All their results were wiped from the record, meaning that Russia lost its first place in the medal standings. On November 27, 2017 IOC sanctionedOlga Vilukhina,Yana Romanova,Sergey Chudinov,Alexey Negodaylo, andDmitry Trunenkov, and stripped Vilyukhina and Romanova of their medals in biathlon.[12][13] 3 athletes who didn't win medals were sanctioned on November 29, 2017.[14] 2 days laterOlga Zaitseva who won silver in biathlon and two other athletes were also disqualified.[15] On December 12, 2017 six Russian ice hockey players were disqualified.[16] BobsledderAlexey Voyevoda who had been already stripped of his gold medals due to the anti-doping violations committed by his teammates was sanctioned on December 18, 2017.[17] Eleven athletes were banned on December 22, 2017. Among them, silver medalistsAlbert Demchenko andTatiana Ivanova who were stripped of their medals.[18]
| Name | Country | Sport | Banned substance | Medals | Details of test | CAS appeals result[19] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Legkov |  Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample |  gold silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[20] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Evgeniy Belov | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[20] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Maksim Vylegzhanin | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | silver silver silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[21] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Evgenia Shapovalova | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[21] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Alexei Petukhov | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[21] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Yulia Ivanova | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[21] | Sanctions upheld | |
| Aleksandr Tretyakov | Russia | Skeleton | Disappearing sample | gold | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[22] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Elena Nikitina | Russia | Skeleton | Disappearing sample |  bronze | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[22] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Olga Potylitsina | Russia | Skeleton | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[22] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Maria Orlova | Russia | Skeleton | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[22] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Olga Stulneva | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[23] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Alexandr Zubkov | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | gold gold | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[23] | Sanctions upheld |
| Olga Fatkulina | Russia | Speed skating | Disappearing sample | silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[23] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Aleksandr Rumyantsev | Russia | Speed skating | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[23] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Aleksei Negodaylo | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | gold | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[24] | Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified |
| Dmitry Trunenkov | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | gold | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[24] | Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified |
| Olga Vilukhina | Russia | Biathlon | Disappearing sample | silver silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[24] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Yana Romanova | Russia | Biathlon | Disappearing sample | silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[24] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Sergei Chudinov | Russia | Skeleton | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[24] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Alexander Kasjanov | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[14] | Sanctions upheld | |
| Aleksei Pushkarev | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[14] | Sanctions upheld | |
| Ilvir Huzin | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[14] | Sanctions upheld | |
| Yuliya Chekalyova | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[15] | Sanctions upheld | |
| Anastasia Dotsenko | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[15] | Sanctions upheld | |
| Olga Zaitseva | Russia | Biathlon | Disappearing sample | silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[15] | Sanctions upheld |
| Inna Dyubanok | Russia | Ice hockey | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[7] | Sanctions upheld | |
| Yekaterina Lebedeva | Russia | Ice hockey | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[7] | Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified | |
| Yekaterina Pashkevich | Russia | Ice hockey | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[7] | Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified | |
| Anna Shibanova | Russia | Ice hockey | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[7] | Sanctions upheld | |
| Yekaterina Smolentseva | Russia | Ice hockey | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[7] | Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified | |
| Galina Skiba | Russia | Ice hockey | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[7] | Sanctions upheld | |
| Alexey Voyevoda | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | gold gold | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[25] | Sanctions upheld |
| Albert Demchenko | Russia | Luge | Disappearing sample | silver silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Tatiana Ivanova | Russia | Luge | Disappearing sample | silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Ivan Skobrev | Russia | Speed skating | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Artyom Kuznetsov | Russia | Speed skating | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Liudmila Udobkina | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated | |
| Maxim Belugin | Russia | Bobsleigh | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | No appeal filed | |
| Tatiana Burina | Russia | Ice hockey | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified | |
| Anna Shukina | Russia | Ice hockey | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Team disqualified | |
| Nikita Kryukov | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Alexander Bessmertnykh | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | silver | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |
| Natalya Matveyeva | Russia | Cross-country skiing | Disappearing sample | IOC sanction imposed in 2017[18] | Sanctions annulled/Results reinstated |