hyzerlord t1_j5w2l4n wrote
Fuck Russia but banning their athletes completely does nothing to deter Russia from being an imperial menace. Why punish athletes who have worked their whole lives for the Olympics, and who have nothing to do with the war? The punishment has to meet the end goal. Banning Russians from the Olympics would only be more propaganda fodder for Putin.
hamhead t1_j5x3u4o wrote
This is the bullshit logic that results in answers like 'compete under a neutral flag'.
If that's actually how it worked, you'd be right. But the Olympics are actually a system of a country showing how impressive they are - especially when you're talking about the top few countries - and nobody fucking believes that the athletes aren't Russian just because they don't have a Russian flag on.
You punish the athletes because the athletes are competing under the auspices of a government. The same reason you punish the people of Russia (or wherever) through economic sanctions even though those don't directly impact those in power.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments