Russia Missing PyeongChang Games Would Be 'Blow' To Olympic Movement, Kremlin Says

The Kremlin on Tuesday said that it "hoped Russia could mend its relations" with the IOC, adding that the country’s absence from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games "would be a blow to the Olympic movement," according to Maria Tsvetkova of REUTERS. Calls from some athletes and anti-doping agencies for a "blanket ban" of Russians in PyeongChang have been "growing louder" amid ongoing IOC investigations into doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The IOC said that it would decide on the participation of Russian competitors at the PyeongChang Olympics during its exec board meeting next month. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, "We hope that dialogue with the IOC will be continued and all issues will be settled. We wouldn’t like to talk about the worst scenario linked to the non-participation of our athletes at the Games. This would be a blow to the international Olympic movement" (REUTERS, 11/7).