Well said! It’s really sad how coaches and countries will do anything to win medals. They’ll disregard the safety and health of children, just to get glory and a gold medal. It’s really sad. And it’s not just those Eastern European countries, it’s people in the US, like USA gymnastics.
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Oh geez. Boo.
The Russians “flip the bird” using a different gesture… not very well known to the rest of the world, apparently. So this was clearly intended for the international viewers.
(Eons ago, my husband hired a postdoc from the Soviet Union. The guy used his middle finger to point to the schemes on the board during his first group presentation… sheltered by the Iron Curtain from the rest of the world, the guy genuinely had no idea what that meant… because he has been taught since childhood that using his index finger to point to things was not very polite. 
The guy was deeply embarrassed… This is clearly not the case here as the US-style birds have been widely adopted throughout the former Soviet bloc countries.)
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I want to know why the Russians are allowed to continually field Olympic teams simply by changing the name of their Olympic team? To me, if they were sanctioned and banned from competing, they shouldn’t be competing under any name at all.
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Yes! It seems like a slap on the wrist. I could see at first, they probably didn’t want to punish athletes who were clean, but now we have a doping case, and they’re competing under the Russian Olympic Committee.
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Yes…and the last Winter Olympics they were something like the Olympic Committee of Russia.
Ridiculous. It’s the SAME team…
And yes, I understand some of the athletes are not the same.
But come on. If the U.S. were banned for some reason, would they form a “middle of North America country Olympic team”? I sure hope not.
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This is sportsmanship. Note: they are skiers. 
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It’d be United American States Olympic Committee. 
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Voices of reason! 
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Raising the age would close the loophole that the Russians exploited.
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A few things:
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I’m sad the US Men’s hockey team lost. I didn’t watch the game but read a description about it. It sounds like it truly went down to the wire. Well done, USA.
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I have never watched so little of the Olympics. Even the Tokyo games was something our entire family watched.
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I have to agree with the comments here that an outright ban of Russian athletes was warranted after what happened in Sochi 2014. This was so systemic and involved the Russian government.
If Russian athletes were not totally banned arising out of this criminal activity that debased sports and the Olympics in 2014, there is likely nothing left that will get a country banned. As far as I can tell, there have only been a few outright bans of a complete country in IOC history: South Africa, Rhodesia, and Afghanistan, and several countries for participation in WW I and WW II. But those bans were for horrible country policies or involvement in global wars. Countries Banned from the Olympic Games (I think this includes only Summer Olympic bans).
Russia’s systemic state-sponsored doping is directly opposite to what the Olympics should be about, and this absurdity of allowing that country’s athletes to still participate is a mockery. There should have been a total ban on all Russian athletes as a result of Sochi for some meaningful period of time.
It would have been devastating to Russia’s athletic programs and particularly the ROC. But that is exactly what was needed. There would have been a severe message sent and an important lesson learned. Perhaps, Russia would have rebuilt its programs, instead of relying on cheating as the core to its victory strategy.
What is happening now is a joke directly arising out of the joke of the punishment it received after 2014 for perhaps the most egregious example of doping in the entire history of sports. I don’t think I’m being too bombastic when I say that. It’s very clear that countries like Russia can get away with anything. Sure, some athletes will be banned. But they seem to be doing just fine in Beijing 2022.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/02/11/russia-olympics-doping-scandal/
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Very well said. After Sochi, nothing surprises me. I questioned why Putin was at opening ceremonies if his country isn’t really “there”.
Women’s gold medal game tonight for hockey. I have my USA hockey shirt on. I think I will need a pot of coffee though. The late nights have worn me out!
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Until your post, I hadn’t really picked up on the utter hypocrisy of Putin’s being at Beijing 2022. Now that you mention it, it graphically illustrates the entire hypocrisy.
I’ve been lucky enough to go to 3 Winter/Summer Olympics. I don’t think I will go again. I loved it when I went, but it now just seems like a crock. It took a few years to recognize that.
Sadly, I don’t think IOC has any say in what sorts of buddies the host country leader can invite. Ok. My blood pressure is going up just thinking about things I can’t post here, so I will stop. And will enjoy watching the US-Canada hockey match. Sigh. Our gals are trailing 0-2. Not exactly a blood pressure lowering situation. 
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I need a large dose of some heartbreak drug. Canada just scored another goal. 
(rats).
I watched an interview on CNN with Polina Edmunds, who was 15 years old when she competed in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. CNN hasn’t posted the contents of the interview, but there’s zero sympathy there for the Russian skater.
Oh, my gosh, Shiffrin. 
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She obviously has no idea how things work in Russia. I stand by my words. This is blatant child abuse, and the teen skater is not the evil, sophisticated doper she has been portrayed by the media. How many 15 yr olds have the skills and knowledge to research sophisticated pharmaceutical regimens to boost their athletic performance? This one is on the adults, pure and simple.
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What happened?
She had a good downhill run in the Combined. She seemed to be a lock to win but she crashed through a gate in the slalom portion.
Oh noooo!! Watching hockey… not looking good for Team USA. 
And Canada 
gets the 
! Sad day here today. Team USA - you are awesome no matter what. Great game.
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