IOC's decision: (clean) Russian athletes can compete under neutral flag at PyeongChang Olympics

[lala]

So you believe that athletes should not be able to avail themselves of medications that would otherwise violate doping rules when they have a legitimate medical condition and that if they need such a medication they should be ineligible from athletic competition. I guess there's really not much to discuss if that's the case.

No. The other athletes must be allowed to use it, too. That is a big ADVANTAGE! But this is not feasible, of course, thus they need to compete separately. So simply.

 

[allezfred]

Hockey without Russia??? I lost my interest in this OG.

Frankly I think the Olympics without ice hockey would be an improvement.

 

[lala]

Frankly I think the Olympics without ice hockey would be an improvement.

This is an opinion, too!

 

[MsZem]

I'll admit it's kind of funny that the Russian team walked into the stadium at the Sochi opening ceremony with "Not gonna get us" playing.

Well.

 

[Bunny Hop]

@Bunny Hop - many thanks for keeping the video threads going, and many thanks to those others who have contributed as well. Great job

Thanks @Maofan7, that is kind of you to say. @Sylvia has done most of the heavy lifting for the video threads.

 

[RoseRed]

of course..you imagine she is Russian..You will have totally another opinion..

If any of them have Sjögren's syndrome, then by all means, take prescribed drugs to treat it. Autoimmune diseases can be quite serious. Please don't make assumptions about what I think. FYI, Evgenia is my favourite ladies skater along with Kaetlyn O, I really like all the Russian junior ladies, Dmitri Aliev, several of the junior dance teams, etc.

 

[PRlady]

That's the thing. I'm a huge Med fan (although Zags and Sots, if they're the other picks, not so much.) I really would like S/K (pairs) to come back and have a smashing Olys and I like S/B as well. And I have a soft spot for Kolyada.

Many of us non-Russians would sincerely mourn if Russian skaters don't get to go.

 

[Areski]

I feel so bad for the skaters!

Sure I do pity them as well but I feel much worse for those deprived of their glory in Sochi & earlier on by Russian cheaters. The sheer number of those cases & the harm inflicted is much greater.

 

[caseyedwards]

Sure I do pity them as well but I feel much worse for those deprived of their glory in Sochi & earlier on by Russian cheaters. The sheer number of that & the harm is much greater.

So why not force Russia to give them a billion dollars rather than create more damaged people?

 

[TAHbKA]

Lets nuke them, bloody criminals. All of them.

I'd leave that to N.Korea

 

[MsZem]

So why not force Russia to give them a billion dollars rather than create more damaged people?

Because a country that cheats in an organized manner like Russia did doesn't deserve Olympic glory. Russian athletes who play by the rules deserve a shot at achieving Olympic success - and what's nice about this decision is that they can still get this shot.

 

[caseyedwards]

Because a country that cheats in an organized manner like Russia did doesn't deserve Olympic glory. Russian athletes who play by the rules deserve a shot at achieving Olympic success - and what's nice about this decision is that they can still get this shot.

They aren’t Russian. They are neutral.

 

[MsZem]

They aren’t Russian. They are neutral.

They'll be Olympians.

Like Petrenko and K/P were in 1992, when they represented the Unified Team. Like Guor Marial, South Sudan's marathoner in 2012. Like Yusra Mardini and the rest of the Refugee Olympic Athletes in 2016. Like Fehaid al-Deehani who won gold in Rio - but not for Kuwait.

Russian athletes will compete as Olympic Athletes of Russia, but not under the Russian flag. That's the price a country pays for such flagrant, widespread, organized cheating.

 

[cholla]

This is like vengeance! It’s like the death penalty.

Can you please be humiliated, ashamed and die away from your keyboard please ? Organizing systemic doping was not exactly honorable and it surely doesn't deserve to wave flags of pride and sing the national anthem to celebrate it. It's totally unfair for clean athletes, OK. But if the country gets the red letter of shame, it's because it deserves it. Get over it and survive or die in silence please

They aren’t Russian. They are neutral.

You are the only one ripping them off their citisenship. Between having a flag with "dope" written all over it, and a neutral one, many athletes will choose (if they are allowed to) the second solution and they will be right. They don't care about politics, they care about their sport.

 

[IceAlisa]

They aren’t Russian. They are neutral.

Which part of Olympic Athlete from Russia confuses you?

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

Med may be sacrificed. I saw a quote already, allegedly from her, saying she can't imagine competing if she can't skate under the Russian flag. The Russians will use her to say "...see what you've done, big/bad IOC, denying the gifted innocents their just rewards". She's a poster child for this.

 

[IceAlisa]

She said she wants to go to Korea after the decision was announced today
But say she doesn’t go because she HAS to skate under the Russian tricolor. That would be on her, not the IOC. Not to mention, on her government

 

[bardtoob]

The Russians will use her to say "...see what you've done, big/bad IOC, denying the gifted innocents their just rewards". She's a poster child for this.

I wonder what the commercial value of an OGM is for a Russian skater. It is as lucrative to get an OGM for a Russian as an American, given that it is not like back in the Soviet days when an OGM meant a package of pension, nice apartment, etc. from the state.

 

[IceAlisa]

Peskov (isn’t he Navka’s hubby?) conveyed the initial word out of the Kremlin: do not get emotional.

Sounds like an attempt to calm the hysteria and to lay down the groundwork for accepting the terms

 

[TAHbKA]

I wonder what the commercial value of an OGM is for a Russian skater. It is as lucrative to get an OGM for a Russian as an American, given that it is not like back in the Soviet days when an OGM meant a package of pension, nice apartment, etc. from the state.

Still does.
For Sochi gold medals they all got a fancy car (don't remember which one it was, however, most of them sold it - too expensive to care and some (Lipnitskaya, Sotnikova) were underage to drive it anyway); AFAIK they do get a pension for the rest of their lives (am not sure it's much, but it's a something) and am quite sure there are other cookies they get

 

[MsZem]

Med may be sacrificed. I saw a quote already, allegedly from her, saying she can't imagine competing if she can't skate under the Russian flag. The Russians will use her to say "...see what you've done, big/bad IOC, denying the gifted innocents their just rewards". She's a poster child for this.

That might work nicely in Russia. Everyone else will realize that it's not the IOC keeping the Russian athletes out of the games.

And if any of the Russian athletes take issue with competing under the Olympic flag, maybe they should read up on the Refugee Olympic Athletes, for some sense of proportion.

 

[IceAlisa]

That might work nicely in Russia.

For some. But not for everyone even there. Mixed reactions in the comments underneath the articles I have been reading

 

[skatepixie]

Still does.
For Sochi gold medals they all got a fancy car (don't remember which one it was, however, most of them sold it - too expensive to care and some (Lipnitskaya, Sotnikova) were underage to drive it anyway); AFAIK they do get a pension for the rest of their lives (am not sure it's much, but it's a something) and am quite sure there are other cookies they get

All of this, plus being more marketable for shows, coaching, etc. They probably make more money than a US lady would for winning, because skating in the US has lost popularity...

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

I don't have much to say about the issue on this point, but ho-ho, if I was Aljona Savchenko, I would totally skip the Europeans.

 

[bardtoob]

All of this, plus being more marketable for shows, coaching, etc. They probably make more money than a US lady would for winning, because skating in the US has lost popularity...

The falling popularity is a function of not winning. I am certain there would be a spike in popularity if the US won, particularly for the ladies.

Men winning an OGM in figure skating will not be a lucrative as for women in the US because of the characteristics of the US market.

 

[PRlady]

I agree. One US superstar in ladies would make a big difference. Especially up against the Russian lady factory. These days the Cold War is back in fashion.

 

[Twilight1]

Frankly I think the Olympics without ice hockey would be an improvement.

It is the only time I can get into it. So I completely disagree. Nothing like do or die for every game to make it exciting.

 

[Finnice]

Frankly I think the Olympics without ice hockey would be an improvement.

Do not say that in Finland, which today celebrates its' 100 birthday and adores their male ice hockey players as war heroes.

 

[Areski]

I wonder what the commercial value of an OGM is for a Russian skater. It is as lucrative to get an OGM for a Russian as an American, given that it is not like back in the Soviet days when an OGM meant a package of pension, nice apartment, etc. from the state.

I think it still this way in Russia - OG medallists were promised Mercedes, cash & whatnot in Russia for Pyeong Chang. I do wonder whether & how they revoke that for the exposed cheaters from previous Olympic Games.

 

[rfisher]

Med and the Russian administration pretty much had to say they preferred to compete under the Russian flag before the announcement yesterday. Otherwise, they may as well have said ban us. Now, they have the opportunity to spin this to their advantage (I personally think they knew exactly what the terms were going to be). They can say, "We'll show the world we aren't doping" Moreover, the IOC gave Russia an opportunity to have all things restored if they fork over 15 million dollars. Rather than cite articles and interviews given before the announcement, everybody should just wait for the after the ban announcement, which to my knowledge hasn't been made. Med herself said she wouldn't comment yesterday.