KANSAS CITY — The 2018 Winter Olympic Games are a year away, but the battle over whether Russia and its state-sponsored doping machine should be allowed to compete began in earnest Thursday.
That’s when U.S. Figure Skating Association president Sam Auxier became one of the rare international sports leaders, and the first U.S. national governing body official, to have the courage to say Russia does not belong in the Games.
“I don’t think they should be able to,” Auxier said in response to a question from USA TODAY Sports at a news conference kicking off the 2017 U.