MOSCOW — Instead of the Olympic Stadium in Rio, members of the Russian track and field team, which has been barred from the Games over a doping scandal, competed among themselves Thursday evening at what looked like a high school stadium.
While many called the track meet Russia’s “alternative Olympics,” the organizers said it simply was an effort to support and recognize individual athletes who had trained hard for but would not be going to the Games. World track’s governing body last month barred the entire team after revelations of widespread state-sponsored doping, which have also led other sports federations to bar other Russian athletes.