Officially ostracized from the Winter Olympics over a long-running doping saga, Russia says it has been welcomed back into the Olympic family.
Russia was banned from the 2018 Winter Olympic Games following state-sponsored doping, leading up to and including the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
Two Russian athletes also failed doping tests during PyeongChang but that hasn’t prevented Russia being reinstated.
“Today, we received a letter from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the reinstatement,” said Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) president Alexander Zhukov, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
“The ROC’s reinstatement comes as the examination of doping tests from the PyeongChang Olympics has ended.
“The IOC may confirm that the other results [of examination of Russian athletes’ doping samples] are negative. This means that the ROC’s rights have been fully reinstated.”
A team of 168 athletes who could prove they were clean from doping competed at February’s Winter Games as Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR), under the Olympic flag and anthem.
IOC president Thomas Bach said failed tests from Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky and bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva were “very disappointing” and had prevented the governing body lifting Russia’s ban for the closing ceremony.
But Bach stressed there is “no evidence of systemic doping and no evidence of the involvement of the Russian Olympic Committee” in either case.
Despite being the third largest team in Pyeongchang, the Olympic Athletes from Russia only finished 13th in the medal table — winning two golds, nine less than Sochi 2014.
The IOC has yet to officially comment.
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