The opening ceremonies in Pyeongchang were absolutely spectacular. The celebration of Korean history and culture combined with a breathtaking display of lights, music, and choreography was enough to entertain for 3 hours – no small feat. Supposedly the spectacle had been in planning for 2 whole years, and it certainly showed. All of it felt perfectly punctuated by the coming together of the DPRK and ROK teams to form a unified Korea team, complete with integrated women’s hockey team and all. The Olympics have always been about international politics – Jesse Owens running in Berlin in 1836, the US boycotting the competition in 1980, and the USSR doing the same in ’84. The ideally friendly international rivalry and camaraderie shown by the participants in these ceremonies is by a wide margin my favorite part, and is the reason I follow the Olympic games every other year. With this in mind, the controversy surrounding Russia’s barring from the games takes on a new color.

The International Olympics Committee, after reviewing drug tests from Russian athletes from the Sochi and London games, determined that a wide conspiracy of doping, led by the Russian government, was in effect. The response was to fully bar Russia from the games, and allow athletes from Russia to compete as “Olympic athletes from Russia.” These athletes wear grey, the Olympic flag, and if they win gold, the Olympic anthem will play. Any mention of Russia as a sovereign state has been cut out. Russia is not a small power, and there’s a lot to be said for how performance at the Olympics can be a show of power. Barring Russia from participating is a political statement whether the IOC thinks it is or not. And, when Thomas Bach gave his speech, calling for the athletes to not cheat, and participate in the spirit of the sport, the statement was made even further. Russia has been given the moral equivalent of a mild UN sanction for cheating in a sporting event, which is something I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand it is only a sport – should Russia receive what amounts to political punishment for cheating in a sport? But then, the punishment fits the crime. And, furthermore, the link of the Russian government to the conspiracy also seems to justify political action. Either way, the statements and actions from the IOC are as much a condemnation of cheating as they are a mild attack on the Kremlin. I look forward to seeing what comes of the moves towards a unified Korea movement, as well as any other, unexpected international dealings that come out of this years games.