SportsPulse: USA Today Sports' Rachel Axon discuss Russian doping in the Olympics and the coming decisions for Russia in Pyeongchang in 2018. USA TODAY Sports
For more than a year, the rhetorical lines have been drawn on whether Russia should be banned from the Olympics for operating a system of doping.
Some athletes and anti-doping leaders have been calling for such a ban since the lead-up to last summer’s Olympics in Rio. Russia, sport leaders and athletes have rebuffed those calls for a collective sanction.
On Tuesday, rhetoric will give way to action as the International Olympic Committee’s executive board will decide on sanctions for Russia at its meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.