Nicholas Gilman

Outline for Informative Speech

General Purpose: To Inform
Specific Purpose: To inform a group of college students on the Russian state sponsored doping
scandal in the Olympics.
Thesis: Today I’m going to tell you how Russian state officials engaged in a concerted, and
successful, effort to undermine the sanctity of that athletic endeavor to bolster their pride and
power, at the expense of athletes around the world.

Introduction
I. Attention Getter: Most of us probably accept that illegal doping exists in the Olympics,
but you may find it shocking that Russia has had 46 medals stripped as a result of doping
according to a 2022 Statista article. This is more than 4 times that of the next closest
offender and 30% of their total medals.
III. Credibility: I have always had a deep appreciation for dedication, tenacity, and grit
required of Olympic athletes. In 2012, I watched with immense pride as a high school
classmate of mine competed in his first Olympics in London.
IV. Motivation/Relevance: I imagine many of you feel the same pride watching your fellow
countrymen and women compete at the highest level against the finest athletes in the
world with the aspiration of wearing Olympic gold under the banner of a nation that
supported their journey to the games.
II. Thesis: Today I’m going to tell you how Russian state officials engaged in a concerted,
and successful, effort to undermine the sanctity of that athletic endeavor to bolster their
pride and power, at the expense of athletes around the world by…
V. Preview: FIRST, detailing the how this conspiracy was discovered. Second, how they
defeated testing requirements at the Sochi Olympics.

Body
I. Doping Scheme Discovered
A. Bryan Fogel, creating documentary about:
1. advantages doping brings
2. how athletes subvert testing standards

B. Put in contact with Grigory Rodchenkov, director of RUSADA

1. Grigory provides protocol and storage reqs.

C. German documentary airs – December 2014

1. alleges decades long doping scandal
2. WADA sends independent commission to investigate

D. Commission releases finding:

1. (Independent Commission’s Final Report Nov. 9 2015)
2. Bribes, extortion, manipulation of records, destruction of samples
 Nicholas Gilman

E. Gregory flies to US for safety

1. 2 months later – Nikita Kamaev (former RUSADA exec. Director) dies of
heart attack

F. May 2016 – Grigory testifies to US justice department

1. also provide testimony and evidence to NY times
2. testimony corroborated by WADA independent commission
3. WADA recommends all Russian athletes barred from Rio games

Transition: So how is it that Russia was able to accomplish this covert operation during the
Sochi Olympic, directly under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee and
ADA representatives?

II. How Russia subverted testing at Sochi Olympics

A. Sample and Security system requires two samples

1. A sample for testing
2. B sample for storage
3. Bottles have tamper proof caps that cannot be removed without breaking

B. (According to Grigory Rodchenkov in documentary “Icarus”)

1. FSB develops method for removing caps and operates in building behind lab.
2. Grigory giving 15 minute warning in middle of night of sample delivery
3. subvert video surveillance, hole in wall for samples to go to FSB
4. B sample returned with cap off for clean urine and storage

Conclusion
1. Restate Thesis/Transition to Conclusion: Today we discovered how Russian
Leadership prioritized bolstering their national pride to achieve political power by…
2. Review: discussing how this scandal was exposed, and how they accomplished
cheating the anti-doping safeguards at the Sochi Olympics.
3. Concluding statement: I leave you to reflect on how the consequences of this scandal
reach far beyond the sports themselves. According to information gathered by Gallup, the
29 point surge in Putin’s waning approval rating following the Olympics may have been the
springboard he needed to begin his annexation of Ukraine just months later.
 Nicholas Gilman

REFERENCES

Mullen, Jethro (2015) Russia Doping Scandal: 5 of the Most Shocking Allegations.
https://www.cnn.com/2015/11/10/sport/russia-doping-report-shocking-things/index.html

Pound, Richard (2015) The Independent Commission Report #1: Final Report
https://www.wada-
ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/wada_independent_commission_report_1_en.pdf

Zandt, Florian (2022) Russia: The Gold Standard in Olympic Doping.

https://www.statista.com/chart/26856/countries-with-the-most-olympic-medals-stripped-as-a-
result-of-doping/

Recent Russian Doping Controversies at the Olympics (2022)

https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-figure-skating-kamila-valieva-coronavirus-
pandemic-sports-4229adb5538bc0b299e6b4f0294a1feb

Panja, Tariq (2019) Russia Banned From Olympics and Global Sports for 4 Years Over
Doping. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/sports/russia-doping-ban.html

He, Eric (2022) What does ROC stand for? And why did Russia get banned from Olympics?
https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/what-does-roc-stand-and-why-did-russia-get-
banned-olympics

Ray, Julia: Putin’s Popularity Waned and Home before Olympics

https://news.gallup.com/poll/167408/putin-popularity-waned-home-olympics.aspx

Ray, Julia and Esipova, Neli: Russian Approval of Putin Soars to Highest Level in Years
https://news.gallup.com/poll/173597/russian-approval-putin-soars-highest-level-
years.aspx

Fogel, Bryan (2017) Icarus - Documentary