Russia Banned From 2018 Winter Olympics - Find Out What Happened

Russian teams have been banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics, set to kick off in South Korea in February. This is due to an alleged state-backed doping scandal, which dates back to the 2014 Sochi Games.

“This was an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport. The IOC EB, after following due process, has issued proportional sanctions for this systemic manipulation while protecting the clean athletes. This should draw a line under this damaging episode and serve as a catalyst for a more effective anti-doping system led by WADA,” Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee, said during a press conference.

“As an athlete myself, I feel very sorry for all the clean athletes from all NOCs who are suffering from this manipulation. Working with the IOC Athletes’ Commission, we will now look for opportunities to make up for the moments they have missed on the finish line or on the podium.”

Athletes from Russia who do compete will have to do so in neutral uniforms, and will be subject to strict anti-doping scrutiny. They will compete under “Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR)”

Reports suggest that Russia had their athletes Sochi urine samples tampered with by intelligence agents, who would swap them out via a hole in the wall of a lab.