Antidoping Officials Obtain Trove of Russian Lab Data

President Vladimir V. Putin at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.The World Anti-Doping Agency, the global regulator of drugs in sports, has obtained a digital trove of data that holds the results of drug tests run on Russian athletes dating back several years, according to two people with direct knowledge who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The database, fiercely protected by Russian authorities who have been unwilling to share the information with antidoping investigators, did not arrive through official channels but rather from a whistle-blower, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation. It is…