International community has been actively debating the recent IOC decision banning the Russian national team from the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. As it follows from the decision, only "clean" Russian athletes are allowed to compete under a neutral Olympic flag.
Why did the IOC failed to suspend participation in the Olympic Games for all the athletes from Russia? Given the huge doping challenge faced by Russia, such a decision would actually be the most expected. Many people think that the IOC's back down may be explained by its reliance on the Russian presence in PyeongChang as a possible restraining factor for North Korea with its aggressive rhetoric, scaring not only for the IOC, the whole world as well. Erin Hamlin, who won a bronze medal at Sochi Women's Luge, voiced her opinion on this subject.
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According to Hamlin, the participation of athletes from Russia in the Olympic Games won't help to escape war on the Korean Peninsula. We can hardly refute this point of view, for the situation in the region is getting more and more complicated with each passing day. Quite recently, North Korea has conducted one more nuclear test in the series, which was followed by the retaliatory joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, the biggest in the history of the two countries' military cooperation. Those are all worrisome events with only two months left before the start of the Olympic Games in PyeongChang. The inevitability of war is the theme being discussed by many at present time, the North Korean government including. To some extent it can account for the doubts available with the American Olympic team when deciding on going to PyeongChang. The team is now known to go to the Olympic Games in full strength. Still there are no guarantees that at the last moment president Trump will not bar the athletes' tour to South Korea. If so, we'll be able to state for sure that the conflict on the peninsula has entered its "hot phase".