Russian Doping Scandal: CAS lifts Olympic doping ban of 28 athletes

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And there might be more athletes making their way to the village. That is because the Court of Arbitration for Sport has lifted the doping bans of 28 Russian athletes. Seven gold medals from the 2014 Sochi Olympics have also been re-instated and now the cleared competitors have an outside chance of making it in time to the Winter Games seven days from now.

Last year, the International Olympic Committee banned 43 Russians for doping offences committed at the last Olympics following the McLaren report which claims to have uncovered a state-sponsored program. Thursday's announcement from CAS comes after evidence for the bans was deemed to be insufficient.

"Unanimously found that the evidence put forward by the IOC in relation to this matter did not have the same weight in each individual case."

Eleven more, who were found guilty of doping offences by the IOC two months ago, had their lifetime bans cut to just exclusion from the Pyeongchang Games. These successful appeals came from athletes in the men's bobsled, women's cross-country skiing and women's hockey. The IOC is accepting the decision, but are quick to point out that doesn't mean the athletes are clean due to a lack of evidence.