Today the International Olympic Committee, IOC, banned Russia from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. The ban is based on the countries wide-spread doping problems.
Russia is guilty of doping during the 2014 Winter Games held in Sochi, Russia. According to The New York Times, over 100 urine samples were tampered with to hid steroid use.
Russia has been accused of tampering with other things as well *cough* America’s 2016 Presidential Election *cough*. So you can bet that the tweets are rolling in and they’re hilarious. President Trump has yet to comment or tweet about the doping scandal.
Russian athletes can still compete in the Olympics as individual not representing a country aka Independent Olympic Athletes. Russia’s flag will not fly or its national anthem will be played during the opening ceremonies. The Russian Olympic Committee is also being fined $15 million.
It’s doubtful any Russian athletes will compete in the Olympics if they don’t represent Russia. Vladimir Putin has spoken out against it.
