One of the major stories leading up to the 2018 Winter Olympics was the International Olympic Committee’s decision to ban Russia from competing in the games due to a widespread doping scandal that implicated the vast majority of Russian athletes.
Those that were able to prove they had been clean were able to compete as Olympic Athletes from Russia, with 17 medals, including two golds, going to those athletes. Icarus, a documentary released on Netflix, featured a deep dive into the scandal and exposed just how prevalent Russian doping was and how it was known to be happening by so many, including Vladimir Putin.
“Best Documentary” was among one of the first awards handed out on Sunday night at the 2018 Oscars and Icarus did indeed get the win, beating out Faces Places, Strong Island, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail and Last Men in Aleppo for the honor. In his acceptance speech, filmmaker Bryan Fogel highlighted the efforts of Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the main subject of the documentary who was the head of Russia’s anti-doping laboratory and explained how the Russians got away with such a brazen plan to cheat.
In his speech, Fogel referred to Rodchenkov as “a fearless whistleblower who now lives in grave danger,” noting that Rodchenkov lives in fear of retaliation from Putin for speaking out.
