Olympic Officials declared that Russia is able to compete in the next Olympics, despite their past and present foul actions. From cheating to the war in Ukraine, Russia has participated in many unethical actions, leading to its previous ban from competing. Russia has not been banned just from the Olympics but from every international sporting event for four years.
In 2020, figure skater Kamila Valieva competed in the 2020 Winter Olympics for Russia. At this time, she was only fifteen and this was her very first Olympic competition, which ended negatively. After she led Russia to victory, Valieva tested positive for banned heart medicine, leading to Russia’s four-year ban. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) then lowered this to two years so Russia could compete in the 2024 Olympics. Between 2020 and 2022 no Russian athlete could compete under Russia’s name because of the doping scandal.
At the Olympics in 2020, Russia was forced to be represented as ROC instead of Russia. ROC athletes could not wear anything that had the word Russia on it, showing that they were not actually competing for their country. On top of that, if Russia won a gold medal, the Russian anthem would not be played, instead music from Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Since Ukraine will also be participating in Olympic events, they feel as Russia should not be able to, due to the war happening at the moment. When this announcement was made Nancy Faeser, the interior minister of Germany, and Thomas Bach, the home country of the I.O.C. president, thought of this decision as “a slap in the face for Ukrainian athletes.”
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/sports/olympics/ioc-russia-belarus-paris-olympics.html
https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/55349156
https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/winter-olympics-explaining-the-kamila-valieva-doping-scandal-that-is-clouding-the-russian-figure-skater/
In 2020, figure skater Kamila Valieva competed in the 2020 Winter Olympics for Russia. At this time, she was only fifteen and this was her very first Olympic competition, which ended negatively. After she led Russia to victory, Valieva tested positive for banned heart medicine, leading to Russia’s four-year ban. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) then lowered this to two years so Russia could compete in the 2024 Olympics. Between 2020 and 2022 no Russian athlete could compete under Russia’s name because of the doping scandal.
At the Olympics in 2020, Russia was forced to be represented as ROC instead of Russia. ROC athletes could not wear anything that had the word Russia on it, showing that they were not actually competing for their country. On top of that, if Russia won a gold medal, the Russian anthem would not be played, instead music from Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
Since Ukraine will also be participating in Olympic events, they feel as Russia should not be able to, due to the war happening at the moment. When this announcement was made Nancy Faeser, the interior minister of Germany, and Thomas Bach, the home country of the I.O.C. president, thought of this decision as “a slap in the face for Ukrainian athletes.”
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/sports/olympics/ioc-russia-belarus-paris-olympics.html
https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/55349156
https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/winter-olympics-explaining-the-kamila-valieva-doping-scandal-that-is-clouding-the-russian-figure-skater/