Grigory Rodchenkov, director of Russia's anti-doping centre in Moscow. And, eventually, he was obsessed by the idea of telling a story about challenging the dope-testing system.Īs we see in the truly twisted story he tells in Icarus, he was easily put in contact with Dr. Through the ups and downs of his career in showbiz, Fogel used cycling for exercise and therapy. He admired Armstrong, too, but eventually suspected that Armstrong couldn't be a clean athlete. When, in 1986, American Greg LeMond became the first non-European professional cyclist to win the Tour de France, Fogel was hooked. And he had the central figure in the huge drama helping him.įogel was just a guy who liked amateur competitive cycling. Without knowing it, he cycled himself into the centre of the international controversy about Russia's doping procedures. Icarus (now streaming on Netflix) is Fogel's bizarre and highly illuminating documentary account of what he did and why he did it. If Armstrong could fool the system repeatedly, then the system was bogus. Specifically, he wanted to show that the entire anti-doping process was nonsense. Into this already strange circumstance steps Bryan Fogel, an American actor, playwright and cycling enthusiast.īemused and bewildered by the fuss that had surrounded the outing of superstar champion cyclist Lance Armstrong as a cheater – who had, despite denials, used performance-enhancing drugs – Fogel wanted to prove something. Integrity be damned, 271 were cleared to take part by an International Olympic Committee panel. Ban them all and the Olympics might lose something – the frisson of true competitiveness. But Russia's Olympic team would have been 389 competitors.
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