Supporters of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics hold the national flags of participating countries in front of the Gangneung Ice Arenaon on January 18. Monday, the International Paralympic Committee said certain members of the banned Russian team will be eligible to compete. Photo by EPA-EFE
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Russia remains suspended from the 2018 Paralympic Games, but the International Paralympics Committee announced Monday that some Russian athletes will be eligible to compete in Pyeongchang.
The Paralympics Winter Games will take place in March in South Korea, a month after the conclusion of the Winter Olympics. Last month, the entire Russian Olympic and Paralympic teams were banned from participation after the International Olympic Committee concluded a yearlong investigation that it said found systematic doping by Russian athletes.
The committee came to the same conclusion the World Anti-Doping Agency did over a year earlier -- that the Russian government operated a doping program during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
The total ban was later amended to allow certain Russian athletes to participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics -- but as neutrals, representatives of Russia.
Monday's announcement follows in that manner.
Russian Paralympic athletes in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, snowboard and wheelchair curling who meet strict eligibility conditions will be eligible to compete as neutrals, the IPC said.
The changes by the committee recognize the Russian Paralympic Committee's efforts to improve its governance and anti-doping practices, an IPC statement said.
Committee President Andrew Parsons said the 2016 decision was sound, but "we face a different picture in Russia and it is important that once again our decision is necessary and proportionate to what is in front of us."
"Although the Russian Paralympic Committee remains suspended they have made significant progress and we have to recognize this," Parsons said. "We have also witnessed behavioral and cultural changes by the RPC, which we hope will one day positively influence officials within the wider Russian Federation."
The eligible Russian athletes will compete as "Neutral Paralympic Athletes," and no reference to Russia will appear on athletic uniforms or during medal ceremonies.
