Gold-standard story exposed big bribes behind the Olympics

Hi everyone, 

Before I get started this week, I have a favour to ask. TBIJ is running its annual audience survey this month, and it’d be great to see a bunch of Sparkies in the replies. This newsletter is sort of the new kid on the block, so if you’re enjoying it, letting me (and my bosses) know would be very much appreciated. Or, if you want me to change something, or get more from TBIJ, it’s your opportunity to say so! I want this to be a newsletter that makes you smile when you see it pop up in your inbox… that’s a thing that happens, right?

Look, I even made a button you can press!

The Olympic games are full of heart-stopping moments. If you haven’t yet watched Simone Biles’ explosive gymnastics, or the mountain biker Tom Pidcock’s astonishing win after a puncture, stop reading and get watching. 

But for the rest of you, have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in the contest to host the games? It is not necessarily the “fair and equal competition” that the rules stipulate for the athletes.

During the bid for the last Olympic games, covert practices were in play. The process for what would become Tokyo 2020 (although, thanks to Covid, the games were actually held in 2021) was investigated by Antoni Slodkowski. His revelations about Japan’s bid shocked the sports world and have led to closer scrutiny of the bidding process.

Antoni’s sleuthing began in 2013 during Japan’s preparations to bid. “It struck us as odd,” he explained. “There wasn’t an overwhelming sense of enthusiasm for the bid ... It just felt … muted.” His instincts were spot on; instead of a collaborative and passionate effort to host the games, a few individuals were using large sums of money to sway the decision-makers.

Haruyuki Takahashi was the man at the centre of Antoni’s investigation. After running a Tokyo steakhouse, he had ascended to become CEO of the powerful Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Inc. He was a power-broker for the Japanese bid. 

Antoni discovered that Takahashi was paid more than $8m by the Japanese Olympic committee to work on the campaign. It was an astonishing amount paid out for mainly “wining and dining” the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials. He was the single largest recipient of money from the Tokyo bid committee. 

Takahashi was paid big money, but he also spent huge sums to buy favours. He admitted to Antoni that one of the people he lobbied was Lamine Diack – an IOC committee member and former head of world athletics. Diack was later convicted of corruption in France and sent to prison for covering up Russian doping cases in exchange for bribes. Takahashi had given him gifts including expensive digital cameras and a Seiko watch worth around $46,500. 

But how did Antoni get Takahashi to spill the beans? With persistence worthy of a marathon runner. Antoni staked out official Olympic events and approached Takahasi with a mix of charm and persistence, eventually securing a meeting. Their conversation revealed a world where business acumen, sports, politics and big money collided.

I asked Antoni why a man who had earnt such a huge amount of money for a lobbying job would agree to talking with a journalist. He told me that Takahashi had “dealt with the who-is-who of global sports and sports marketing … [and] he felt pretty confident that he would be able to handle any kind of question”.

Antoni needed hard evidence to back up the financial revelations. He spent many hours poring over spreadsheets and analysing complicated financial transactions, data he obtained “with persistence, creativity and digging deep”. He refrained from explaining where the information had exactly come from but said the global reach and resources of Reuters – where Antoni worked – had helped. 

Another of Antoni’s revelations was that the Tokyo bid committee also paid $1.3m to a little-known non-profit promoting Judo, The Kano Institute. Why? Perhaps because it was run by an influential figure in Japanese sports – Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo Olympics organising committee and former prime minister of Japan. 

The exposé had a profound impact. While the bid committee’s activities didn't immediately lead to court cases, those involved faced intense scrutiny.

As I write, Takahashi is facing charges of accepting bribes related to the Tokyo games. (Although these corruption charges are linked to his work with the Olympic organising committee, not the actual bid.)

Earlier this year the Tokyo District Court convicted a man called Yoshikazu Taniguchi of paying bribes worth 6m yen (about £32k) to our main character, Takahashi. 

Antoni’s story provides more than just a scandalous insight, it’s a crucial reminder of the need for transparency and accountability in sport. “Billions of dollars are at stake, some from sponsors, some from taxpayers,” he told me. “People want to believe that it’s all being done and organised in an appropriate and legal way.” Poor governance in these sports, whether it is corruption or doping, go hand in hand.  

So, Spark readers, the next time you cheer for your favourite team or athlete, remember the unsung heroes like Antoni who ensure that the games are played fairly and squarely. 

“The level of Russian corruption surrounding their doping program was shocking and long standing. Grigory was really a part of that until a German documentary exposed the Russian doping programme in 2014. A friend of his at the Kremlin called him and said “You need to leave, the FSB is going to murder you.” 

Grigory got a plane ticket. As soon as he landed in New York, he exposed the entirety of the Russian doping system and all of the corruption. 

As we’ve seen time and time again, the IOC really did not punish Russia as aggressively as it should have. In 2016 all the IOC did was to encourage larger states to continue their doping programs, and we’ve seen that play out with both Russia and China in the last couple Olympics.  

The media did a great job, and covered it well, but Russia doesn't really care about the press. The only thing that Russia cares about is the glory of competing in the Olympics. And the IOC allowed them to continue to compete in the Olympics, even though they were not allowed to do so under the Russian flag. And so Russia got what it one wanted, which was large teams of Olympic athletes.

~ After the scandal, Jim wrote the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA), a US law that aims to combat doping in international sports competitions. It was signed by President Trump in 2020 ~

It was quite satisfying when I wrote the first draft of the bill for the Helsinki Commission. I didn’t think that it had much of a chance of getting through Congress, let alone being signed by the president. But the moment was just right. The US intelligence services and Congress had been paying very close attention to the role of Russia’s corruption with respect to international sport, and Congress wanted to do something to punish it. 

For Grigory, it was our way of showing how important his whistleblowing was – to expose not just Russian corruption, but to get the world focusing on cheating and sports and the degree to which large countries get away with it.

Each whistleblower is different, and they all have different reasons for wanting to expose the truth. For some of them, it’s a matter of principle. For others, it’s a matter of survival, and in some cases, like Grigory’s, it was a little bit of both. 

All you can do is use the tools that you have to be as robust as possible, to help them be as courageous as possible, and to make sure that you are trying to help keep them protected. 

It’s very complicated and very hard representing whistleblowers, but it is also a great joy, because in many different areas, you get to see corruption exposed and the truth prevail.”

Despite all the problems big money and politics bring, I do have a soft spot for the Olympics. I love how they give people who dedicate their lives to some frankly weird and wonderful sports a brief moment in the limelight. I love the iconic moments that transcend the importance of winning. 

There's loads of great examples out there but one that always gets me: I couldn't tell you who won the gold in the final of the men’s 400m at the ’92 Olympics in Barcelona, but I won’t ever forget that in the semi finals, an injured and emotional Derek Redmond hobbled over the line dead last, held in the embrace of his dad, who fought past stewards to get to his son.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the Olympics! 

Until next time,