Putin honours athletes as Russia’s Olympic ban ends
MO S C OW • Russia’s ban from the Olympic movement was lifted on Wednesday despite two failed doping tests by its athletes at the Pyeongchang Winter Games.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the move during a Kremlin award ceremony for Olympic athletes, saying “we must turn this page.”
“We must draw relevant conclusions for ourselves, but I hope that international organizations also will eventually understand that sports must be kept away from problems unrelated to it,” he added.
The decision by the International Olympic Committee appears to be an attempt to draw a line under the state-concocted doping scandal that tarnished the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
The IOC allowed more than 160 athletes it determined were clean to compete on an Olympic Athletes from Russia team in Pyeongchang earlier this month with a prohibition on the Russian national anthem and flag in venues.
“You can take away any attributes, but you can’t take away our character, and you have proven it with your performance,” Putin said after giving state awards to Olympic athletes in the Kremlin. “It has filled us all with a sense of pride.”
Russia’s hopes of marching under its flag at Sunday’s closing ceremony in South Korea were stymied by the two positive tests for banned substances, including a curler who had to forfeit his bronze medal. But the IOC said Wednesday all remaining test results were negative, clearing the path for Russia’s return to the Olympic fold.
“The suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee is automatically lifted with immediate effect,” the IOC said in a statement.
Russian athletes won two gold medals in Pyeongchang, in figure skating and ice hockey, along with six silver medals and nine bronze.
“We defended the country’s honour thanks to the Russian character,” said Pavel Datsyuk, captain of the Olympic Athletes from Russia hockey team. “Thank you for your support and a chance to prove that the Russian character will never be broken.”
Russia also complied with financial sanctions by paying US$15 million for the IOC’s two investigations into the scheme and toward future anti-doping work.
Vitaly Smirnov, the head of an anti- doping commission set up by Putin, did acknowledge on Wednesday that “we have a long way to go to get rid of the mistakes, which we made in the past.”
But Russia continues to deny there was state involvement in the plot.