On Dec. 5, 2017, after determining that Russia had been operating a sophisticated doping operation, the International Olympic Committee suspended the country from participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics. (The ban that would later be extended thru 2022, including the current Games in Beijing).
In announcing the sanction, IOC president Thomas Bach declared Russia was guilty of "an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games."
Yet despite the tough talk, there was a catch: Russian athletes who had never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs could still compete under a shadow organization – in this case the "Russian Olympic Committee.