SAM BRINKLEY The International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.) has banned the Russian Federation from participation in the 2018 Winter Olympiad, to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea this coming February. The ban is part of a series of disciplinary actions against Russia’s Olympic team for its state-backed doping scheme at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games. Several top athletes, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Sport and Federal Security Service, were discovered to have used performance-enhancing steroids over the course of their competition in Sochi. Since Russia was the host country, Russian operatives were able to slip into drug testing facilities and manipulate the urine samples of over a hundred athletes in the middle of the night, leading to a thorough ongoing investigation by the I.O.C. and a revocation of several dozen athletes’ medals. Many of those athletes have also been individually banned from competing at Olympic events for life. Among them are Alexander Zubkov, former gold-medalist in both two-man and four-man bobsledding, and Olga Fatkulina, former silver-medalist in 500 meters speed skating. President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have expressed outrage at the I.O.C.’s sweeping decision, although the Committee was unable to find enough concrete evidence that higher levels of the Russian government, up to the president, played a role in authorizing the athletes’ rule-breaking behavior.
For Russians, especially following the Cold War and President Putin’s ascension to power, the Olympic Games represent a crucial opportunity to establish their nation as competitive on the world stage. Russians typically perform extremely well in international athletic events, and have proved especially superior in the quadrennial Winter Games. In Sochi, the Russian team won both the most medals and the most gold medals out of all the participating countries prior to their standing’s partial annulment following the doping revelation. The 2010 Vancouver Games were also successful, with Russia yielding a total of 15 medals. Yet out of any nation, Russia has had the greatest number of medals rescinded by far in Olympic history: 49. The official Olympic creed states, “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” When Russians casually and consistently attempt to violate the rules of international competition, they run the risk of constructing a selfish image of themselves which isolates them from the worldwide community. The I.O.C. ban does not mean that no Russian athletes will participate in the 2018 Games, however. President Putin has signalled his permission for Olympians to travel to Pyeongchang to compete as neutral athletes, or in this case, “Olympic Athletes from Russia.” This allows for Russian athletes either not personally banned or not evidenced to be involved with the scandal to have a place in the Games, still following rigorous drug testing. The Russian flag and national anthem will simply not be allowed to be displayed and sounded at the opening and medal ceremonies. I.O.C. officials have not yet clarified whether the ban will be symbolically lifted in forgiveness to Russia prior to the 2018 closing ceremony.
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