The 2018 Oscar nominations were announced today, and cycling documentary Icarus is up for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category. (Keep up with the latest cycling news by subscribing to our newsletter.)
The two-hour film, which is currently available to stream on Netflix, sets out to tell the story of cyclist and filmmaker Bryan Fogel’s plan to take EPO before racing the brutal Mavic Haute Route. His initial intention is simply to expose holes in the World Anti Doping Agency’s testing protocol. But from here, the documentary takes a turn—and what Fogel uncovers is far more sweeping and ominous than the fallibility of WADA drug testing. Ultimately, Icarus takes a deep and fascinating dive into one of the largest-scale doping scandals in the history of sports.
Watch how motor doping works:
In an interview with Bicycling last summer, Fogel said he was shocked by the scope of what he uncovered during the filming of Icarus. Unexpectedly he found himself a key source into investigation of the Russian doping program in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. “There was a huge sense of responsibility and burden because I understood what this was and how fragile this story was,” Fogel said. “And I was essentially in the middle of it.”
For more about Icarus, check out our full interview with Fogel and review or just watch the documentary on Netflix. Congratulations to Bryan Fogel for the Oscar nomination—and for playing a key, if unanticipated, role in exposing a major international doping scandal.
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