RUSSIA: "In an interview with The New York Times, Vitaly Smirnov, the official Putin appointed to 'reform the nation's antidoping system,' said many athletes agreed to be doped to overcome preferential treatment that international authorities had given to athletes from Western nations.
'The general feeling in Russia is that we didn't have a chance,' Smirnov told the Times."
– “Russian official disputes NYT doping story; NYT stands behind reporting,” CNN.com, Dec. 28, 2016, Max Blau, Ashley Fantz and Rob Hodgetts, 12/28/2016