Russian athletes

Two months ago, when the International Olympic Committee decided to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee and to ban Russian athletes from competing in the coming Winter Olympics in PyeongChang in South Korea under their own flag – allowing only a selected few Russian athletes to compete under the Olympic flag and by invitation only – I expressed in an article for RussiaFeed my own total incomprehension at this decision.

On November 13, 2015, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) terminated the membership of the Russian Athletics Federation for an unspecified period due to what remain to be questionable doping allegations. As a result, all Russian track and field athletes have been banned from competing in all international events, including world championships and the Olympics, under the flag of the Russian Federation.