It won’t be the same not hearing the national anthem of the Russian Federation at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
It’s a beautiful, inspiring composition, though most Russian citizens don’t know the words to the anthem.
Russia is a rotten country. Not the people. Nor the landscape or the buildings.
Russia’s sports federations are rotten. They systemically condoned, indeed, helped their top international athletes cheat by using performance-enhancing drugs. Worse, they had a system during the 2014 Olympics — in Russia — to prevent drug testers from catching their cheating athletes.
The International Olympic Committee finally responded by banning Russia from next year’s Games.
Russian athletes who prove themselves clean, who didn’t succumb to the state-sponsored doping programs, can compete under the Olympic flag. Gold-medalists will be honoured by the playing of the Olympic anthem. If any Russians compete.