Russia reinstated into Olympic movement after doping scandal

Russia’s ban from the Olympic movement was lifted on Wednesday despite two failed doping tests by its athletes at the Pyeongchang winter games.

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 stateconcocted doping scandal that tarnished the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

The IOC allowed more than 160 athletes it determined were clean to compete in Sochi as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” in Pyeongchang earlier this month with a prohibition on the national anthem or 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 a sense of pride.”

He referred to members of the Russian ice hockey team performing the national anthem after receiving the Olympic gold, saying he would like to thank them for their patriotism.

“Millions of people are happy for your victories along with you!” he said.

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 that all remaining test results were negative, clearing the path for Russia’s return to the Olympic fold.

“Therefore, as stated in the executive board decision of 25th February, 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 put all our souls into that, we won those medals for our Motherland,” figure skater Yevgenia Medvedeva who won Olympic silver, said at the Kremlin award ceremony.

“We defended the country’s honour thanks to the Russian character,” echoed Pavel Datsyuk, the captain of the Russian ice hockey team. “Thank you for your support and a chance to prove that the Russian character will never be broken.”