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Vast archive of Russian doping data handed to track body

MOSCOW — The World Anti-Doping Agency has handed over more than 100,000 computer files on Russia to the body investigating drug cases in track and field.

The files, originally from the Moscow drug-testing laboratory, could reveal more past doping offences by top Russian athletes, even if they were originally covered up.

The handover, announced Thursday, comes as Russia pushes to have its track team fully reinstated in time for the track and field world championships in Qatar in September and October.

The Athletics Integrity Unit, which handles doping cases in track, says the archive contains around 110,000 files. WADA obtained the Moscow lab files and raw data from the drug-testing equipment in January after much wrangling with Russian authorities and spent months piecing it together before handing over a 500-gigabyte package to the AIU on Tuesday.

"The AIU will start analyzing the LIMS data immediately with a view to reporting its findings to the IAAF Council in due course," the AIU said in a statement Thursday. "Whilst the AIU is committed to making every effort to complete its review of the data as soon as possible, it is not in a position to say how long the exercise will take."

The archive covers the period from 2012 through August 2015, when doping was widespread in Russian track and field. Dozens of athletes from that time have already received doping suspensions.

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The Associated Press

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