Russia banned from Winter Olympics but clean athletes can still compete
The ban is the toughest sanction ever levelled by the International Olympic Committee for drug cheating — and could hurt the Games more than Russia
Seoul — Winter Olympics organisers said on Wednesday they would prefer if Russians competed under their own flag, but accepted as "second-best" an International Olympic Committee ruling allowing clean athletes from Russia to take part in the games as neutrals. Russia was banned from the 2018 Winter Games on Tuesday because of a state-orchestrated doping programme, but the IOC said clean Russian athletes would be able to enter under an Olympic flag. "We find it the second-best alternative, albeit not the best, that Russian players are at least allowed to compete individually," said Lee Hee-Bum, chief of the Pyeongchang organising committee for February’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. The ban constitutes the toughest sanction ever levelled by the IOC for drug cheating while still offering Russian athletes who can prove they are clean a route to compete in Pyeongchang. The decision caught the games organisers off guard, Lee said in a radio interview. It also raises the prospect of Mo...
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