Putin Shamelessly Cheers for ‘Banned’ Russian Athletes at Olympics

Russian leader Vladimir Putin praised Russian athletes on Friday for their participation in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing – who are playing despite a massive doping scandal resulting in Russia being officially banned from the Games.

Putin himself is banned from the event, but was present at the Opening Ceremonies as a personal guest of Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, a loophole in the ban.

Athletes in the Games are playing as part of the Russian Olympic Committee due to an ongoing doping penalty issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). They cannot fly the Russian flag or play the national anthem.

“I am certain that our athletes will deliver a worthy performance,” Putin told reporters Thursday, as quoted by TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency.

The Russian president attended the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on February 4 as an invited guest of China. Putin met with Xi hours before the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday to discuss bilateral relations between their two countries.

Putin’s comment in support of Russian athletes participating in a limited capacity at the 2022 Winter Olympics followed one day after Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin similarly commended the competitors on February 3.

“The whole country supports our athletes and is proud of them. On these days, the people of Russia will wish them nothing but victory,” Mishustin said during a Russian government meeting on Thursday.

“The Government has decided to reward Russian athletes following the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,” he revealed.

“Each gold medalist will receive four million roubles. Silver and bronze medalists will get 2.5 million roubles and 1.7 million roubles respectively,” the prime minister detailed.

Mishustin said Russian trainers and specialists who support the ROC would “also receive bonuses” from the Russian federal government if any team members medal in the Games.

“Let’s wish all our athletes good luck. We will cheer them on and worry on their behalf,” the prime minister added.

WADA banned Russian athletes from winning medals on behalf of Russia at any international sporting competition through December 2022. The organization issued the prohibition in response to Moscow’s alleged support of widespread doping among its athletes in the past. WADA had initially sought to bar Russian athletes from participating in any international sporting event for four years but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) halved this punishment to two years in December 2020.

Russian athletes who medal at Olympic games during the ban do so not for Moscow, but for the ROC. They are denied the patriotic glory of standing before their national flag at medal ceremonies and instead must represent the ROC’s banner. Russian athletes are similarly forced to listen to Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 instead of the Russian national anthem during such ceremonies.