Russia’s journey in PyeongChang and the way ahead

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One of the eye-grabbing stories in PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics was Russia, and its participation or partial participation.

Russia athletes are not allowed to compete under Russian national flag. Instead, the 168 Russian athletes have been competing as Olympic Athletes of Russia because of an alleged massive doping ring dating back to the 2014 Sochi Games which they hosted.

The Olympic Athletes from Russia had some success -mostly on the ice arena and in cross country skiing, winning two gold, six silver, and nine bronze medals.

Yet, their image took a hit when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky of his Olympic bronze medal after a positive drug test.

Olympic athletes from Russia Nadezhda Sergeeva (R) and Anastasia Kocherzhova (L) react to media. /VCG Photo‍

The misfortunes came in pair. Another athlete, Nadezhda Sergeeva, a bobsled pilot, tested positive for drug, further compromising the message that the country had turned the corner after a doping saga reaching all the way back to Sochi 2014.

“In Russia people feel furious about their actions. Everybody was afraid of any doping issue. We thought this Olympics could be the end of story, but now we see continuation. It is terrible. Nobody expected this”, journalist for Russia’s Sport Express Dmitriy Zelenov commented.

IOC’s decision coming after the incidents bans Russian athletes marching under their own nation’s flag at the closing ceremony, failing the effort of a senior advisor to President Vladimir Putin who met with IOC President, Thomas Bach, in the hope of paving the way for flying Russia’s own flag.

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Sir Craig Reedie, told CGTN that the fight against doping will continue in Beijing 2022.

“We are very confident that all that (anti-doping testing programs) can be done because we think WADA and China are in good place,” said Reedie.