With top Olympics officials expected imminently to announce a punishment for Russia over its elaborate sports doping scheme, the whistle-blower who played a central role in the illicit program said he was in favor of allowing Russian athletes who can establish their innocence to compete under a neutral flag at the coming Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“Innocent athletes should not be prevented from participating,” Grigory Rodchenkov, Russia’s former longtime antidoping laboratory chief, said in an email exchange on Friday and Saturday with The New York Times through his lawyer — his first interview since being put under protection of United States authorities.