Russia has been banned from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. The decision by the International Olympic Committee reflects Russia's "systematic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system," or, to be blunt, cheating in the 2012 and 2014 Olympic Games. The decision must have infuriated Russian President Vladimir Putin, who considers sporting events indicators of national character and sporting victories a source of national pride. His anger should be weighed against those of athletes who lost opportunities to stand on the podium because of Russian cheating.
Charges of cheating are not new to Russian athletes. Throughout the Cold War, Soviet bloc competitors were dogged by doping allegations, and they were periodically proven but usually well after the fact. In recent years, Russian athletes and even staff at the Russian anti-doping agency have alleged systemic cheating, but international sporting authorities refused to act. In one case, the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) sent the allegations to its Russian counterpart, which promptly banned the athlete who made the charges.
A German filmmaker took up the accusations and produced a documentary so sensational and so credible that it spurred the WADA and the International Association of Athletics Federations to do their own investigation. That report, released in November 2015, concluded that Russia had cheated and had effectively "sabotaged" the 2012 London Olympic Games.