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Russian flag will not fly during the 2018 Winter Olympics

Athletes can still compete under Olympic flag
<p>The International Olympic Committee decided Russia&nbsp;<a href="https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-suspends-russian-noc-and-creates-a-path-for-clean-individual-athletes-to-compete-in-pyeongchang-2018-under-the-olympic-flag" target="_blank">won&#39;t be allowed</a>&nbsp;to send a team to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.&nbsp;</p><p>Instead, athletes from the country will compete under a neutral flag.&nbsp;</p><p>The IOC&#39;s executive board met Tuesday in Switzerland to vote on whether to ban Russia from the games over its ongoing doping scandal.</p><p><a href="https://www.newsy.com/stories/russia-s-doping-scandal-involves-over-1-000-athletes/" target="_blank">An investigation</a>&nbsp;commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency last year found hundreds of Russian athletes had been doping for years, and officials covered it up. Russia has repeatedly denied accusations that it ran a state-sponsored doping system.</p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/sunil-gulati-will-step-down-after-us-soccer-misses-world-cup/">The Head Of US Soccer Is Stepping Down After World Cup Miss</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/lavar-ball-pulls-son-liangelo-out-of-ucla-after-china-arrest/">LaVar Ball Is Pulling His Suspended Son LiAngelo Out Of UCLA</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/new-jersey-has-tangled-history-with-sports-betting-law/">New Jersey Has A Tangled History With This Sports Betting Law</a></li></ul>
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The International Olympic Committee announced Tuesday that it is barring Russia from competing as a nation at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The decision stems from an ongoing investigation into state-sponsored Russian doping during the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

"This was an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport," IOC President Thomas Bach said.

Russian athletes who test clean will still be able to compete in the Olympics as neutral athletes. The Russian flag will not fly and its anthem will not play during the opening, closing and medal ceremonies.

According to the IOC, Russian athletes will instead compete as "Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR)," under the Olympic flag. The Olympic anthem will play when Russian athletes earn medals.

The IOC also expelled Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) members from the IOC, and ordered the ROC to reimburse $15 million that was used for the investigation.  

 

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