~Beyond the Border~ > Sara's Audio-Visual Import-Overflow Retail
Russia has been banned from the 2018 Winter Games
Raikaria:
--- Quote from: Purvis Washington on December 05, 2017, 08:19:05 PM ---Wonder what the neutral flag looks like?
--- End quote ---
A person attending the Olympics under a 'neutral' flag; for whatever reason; will compete under the Olympic Flag; with the national code 'IOA [Independent Olympic Athletes].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Olympians_at_the_Olympic_Games
Notable reasons for competeing under the IOA flag:
- Home country is banned but the athlete themselves is proven clean and still qualifies
- A major issue with the country's National Olympic Committee [India had this in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Kuwait had it in 2016; South Sudan in 2012 had not yet formed it's committee]
- Refugees
- The nation is in the process of becoming Independent but isn't fully so yet [East Timor in 2000]
- The country is in such a state of flux there simply isn't a flag to compete under [Ex-Soviet Union; 1992]
- Under UN Sanctions that stops the country itself competeing [But people of that nationality who live abroad could compete under a neutral flag; Yugoslavia in 1992]
Lt Colonel Summers:
Russia has been doping under government orders since as far back as the 1940s. Its a surprise they managed to avoid being caught red-handed for over half a century (well, USSR did get caught at least once, but that was when the concept of doping is still relatively unknown to the Olympic commitees) ...