The IOC Bans Russia From The Pyeongchang Olympic Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned Russia from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Following a “systematic manipulation” of anti-doping rules, Russia has been banned from the 2018 Olympic Games. The Russian National Anthem will not be played as part of the opening ceremony, and its flag will not be paraded around.

This doping scheme may have helped as many as 1,000 athletes between 2011 and 2015 from both Summer and Winter sports.

Russian Athletes who are found clean may still compete, but they will be under the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia” (OAR). If one of these athletes earns a medal, the olympic anthem will be played instead of Russia’s national anthem at the medaling ceremony.

Along with being banned, Russia’s olympic committee must reimburse the IOC $15 million for the investigation of the doping scandal, and Russian officials are not allowed to attend the games. Some of this money will be used to better monitor athletes and prevent another scandal from happening ever again.

The 2018 February Olympics will not be broadcast by the All-Russia state Broadcasting Company to Russian citizens.

25 Russian Athletes have received lifetime bans from any Olympic competition, and 11 medals have been taken away from “winners” in the 2014 Sochi Games. Russia has now dropped from first to fourth in overall Sochi medal wins now behind Norway, Canada, and the United States.

Many well-known Russian athletes are still not sure whether or not they will compete in the upcoming games.