IOC bans Russia from 2018 Winter Olympics, allows athletes to compete under Olympic flag

Published December 6, 2017
IOC President Thomas Bach and Chair of IOC Inquiry Commission into alleged Russian doping Samuel Schmid attend a press conference following an executive meeting on Russian doping.—AFP
IOC President Thomas Bach and Chair of IOC Inquiry Commission into alleged Russian doping Samuel Schmid attend a press conference following an executive meeting on Russian doping.—AFP

Russia were banned from the 2018 Olympics on Tuesday under allegations of state-sponsored doping but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Russian competitors would be able to compete “under strict conditions”.

The IOC announced the decision after examining evidence of state-sponsored doping over several years that reached a high-point at the Winter Olympics hosted in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

Nations have been barred in the past from taking part in the Olympics, notably South Africa during the apartheid years, but none has ever been handed a blanket ban over doping.

Russian athletes, however, would be able to take part in the 2018 Olympics, the IOC said, as independent competitors “under the Olympic flag”.

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