For my final civic issue blog post, I thought that I would end with a quite serious scandal. This was such a wide-spread scandal that it affected the entire country of Russia.
So, why was this Olympic ban exactly placed on Russia? The root of the cause has to deal with, you probably guessed it, doping. The World-Anti Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia from competing at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics because of a doping scandal the country attempted to cover up. WADA allowed athletes from Russia not associated with the scandal to compete in the Olympics from 2019-2022, but there were some clear differences.
Athletes were recognized as Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) and represented the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) instead of Russia itself. If a Russian athlete won, the ROC flag would be raised. It is composed of the same colors of the Russian flag, red, blue, and white. Also, instead of their national anthem, part of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was played in its place.
Now I would like to turn to you. Do you think WADA took proper measures? First of all, this is an entire country that was supporting their athletes to dope. The purpose of WADA barring the entire country’s representation at the Olympics was because the issue was bigger than one on an individual basis. However, even though the country was at fault with the doping scandal, that does not mean there were Russian athletes who did not partake within the scandal, as previously mentioned. WADA granted these athletes the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games. The Olympics is something that an athlete works towards their entire life, so it’s nice to see their opportunity to compete was not fully stripped away from them, especially if they were at their peak-performance.
But, this leads to another question to consider: How would you feel competing under the ROC if you were a Russian athlete? There are two sides to this coin as well, if you will. The first side is embarrassment. Russia looks bad on the world stage. Their country was just caught in a giant doping scandal and has been banned from the Olympics… But, on the other hand, athletes could also feel dejected and out of spirits since they don’t really get to represent their home country. Making it to be the best-of-the-best is not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination, and it also does not last forever. Many of these athletes will never make it to another Olympics, so their moment to shine in the spotlight has become dulled. And, imagine if you won gold for Russia and didn’t get to see your flag be raised or hear your national anthem. Is that fair for the athletes?
What do you think about the Russian doping scandal ban? There are many sides that can be taken on this issue. So I ask, where do you stand?
This is actually a really interesting topic and I like how it’s a change of pace from your previous posts! Personally, I think that if those athletes did not partake in doping, they should be allowed to compete, as this was the case. However, it takes a really strong will to go onto a stage, podium, beam, platform, etc. and be associated with a country that is represented by “false” athletes. In the end, the Olympics committee dealt with the issue as they should have, granting the non-doping athletes the ability to compete and still represent the values and patriotic ideals they stand for. I am curious to see what other takes people have on this issue?
I remember hearing about this scandal all the time. I knew that Russia was not allowed to compete and that athletes not affiliated with the scandal could compete for the ROC under a different flag. I did not know that they had to change the national anthem for this group of athletes. I had not thought about how the athletes competing for ROC would feel. Like you said, being embarrassed for you country but also sad that you could not represent them. I cannot imagine preparing for nearly your whole life to participate in the Olympics for your country only to have your country barred from the Olympics. However, I do think this was a fair solution to the problem.
In my opinion, I think the WADA took proper measures against Russia. Cheating in an event as big as the Olympics is a serious offense, so to let their country be represented wouldn’t be holding them accountable. I feel very bad for the athletes that had no part of the scandal, but I am glad they are allowed to compete in the games. It is unfair that they can’t represent their country and they shouldn’t be suffering the consequences of what other people did, but Russia needs to be held accountable somehow.