Russians won't get to march under their flag at closing ceremony

pulse

February 25, 2018 3:42 AM

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — The International Olympic Committee has upheld its suspension of Russia as a team from the games, a move that will force its athletes to march in the closing ceremony without their national colors or flag.

The decision, in a vote here Sunday, came after two failed drug tests by Russian athletes — among more than 160 competing here under a special dispensation — and after a long night of talks among senior IOC officials.

Russia’s Olympic committee was banned in December after revelations of one of the most sophisticated doping programs in sports history, including corruption of the 2014 Sochi Games it played host to. The IOC will consider reinstating the Russian committee if all remaining drug tests for its athletes at the Winter Games come back clean.

The IOC decision came after two days of discussion.

“We should draw a line. We have to draw a line and look to the future,” said Nicole Hoevertsz, an IOC member from Aruba, who led a three-person panel monitoring Russian behavior at the games.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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