The upcoming Winter Olympic games will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea. Events like skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, ice hockey, and bobsledding are all favorites. The displays of extraordinary skill and athleticism from each countries’ best athletes captivate the attention of millions of viewers.

For the 2018 games, however, Russia will not be sending their athletes to compete. Due to recent attempts to cheat by giving athletes performance-enhancing drugs, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned Russia completely from attending the event.

President of the IOC, Thomas Bach, criticized the cheating as, “an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport.”

Additionally, Russia’s flag and national anthem will not be a part of the opening ceremony, nor will Russian government officials be allowed to attend even as spectators. Any individual athletes who wish to participate must petition, and will need to provide positive drug tests frequently. If any athletes are finally exempt from the ban, they will have to wear neutral uniforms and any medals that they win will not count for their country.

The fact that the Olympics is the most prestigious sporting event makes Russia’s attempt at cheating so much worse. Athletes spend years rigorously training for their sporting events.

Senior track athlete Samantha Sklar–a one-time State Sectional champion and six-time Passaic County champion–commented, “Knowing how hard my teammates and I work to reach our goals, it’s upsetting that other people could take the title in dishonest ways. I can only imagine how the other Olympic athletes feel at such a demanding, high level of competition.”

Thankfully, the IOC caught the cheating attempt well before the games begin. Hopefully, the Russian athletes who have been working towards the Olympics in a clean manner will be able to perform.