Russian OAR Not?

It's not like I can really blame NBC's broadcasters for being confused, but I've heard the Russian team called about five different things during these Olympics.  Officially, of course, Russia isn't competing in PyeongChang, and the individuals are referred to as "Olympic Athletes from Russia."  But there have been plenty of variations of that name.

"Olympic Athlete Representing Russia" has been a common one, even though that is 100 percent incorrect since they technically aren't representing Russia at all.  Terry Gannon is among those who are just calling a spade a spade and saying "Russia."  What are they gonna do anyway?  Nothing!  Then there are the announcers who've given up entirely and just say "OAR" (which Kenny Albert might be doing just because it's quicker).

We all knew when the IOC came up with this compromise allowing Russians to compete in PyeongChang that is was going to sound weird and be a little awkward.  But it's been even more awkward than anyone anticipated.  Even the stadium PA announcers are having a hard time with what to call them.  (They also need to decide if it's singular or plural, although the hockey team consists of multiple people, so it has to be Athletes there.)

The IOC is responsible for most, if not all, of this confusion.  When they suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in December, they also threw them a bit of a bone by including the word "Russia" in the name of the team that the approved athletes would be on.  They just as easily could've been "Independent Olympic Athletes" like the Kuwaitis were in Rio.

But to act like there's no "Russian" team here is ridiculous, especially when you consider OAR is the fourth-largest team, which means everyone is going to have to talk about it throughout the Olympics.  And, frankly, that's where the "OAR" designation is kinda stupid.  Everyone knows that they're Russian.  And everyone knows the situation.  So there's no use in pretending it's anything else.

When the IOC announced Russia's suspension and this OAR compromise, I was actually on board with it.  Punishing the country for its doping problem was definitely warranted, but it would've been unfair to clean athletes to take away their ability to compete.  I know it wasn't the most popular decision, especially among some high-ranking Olympic officials.  They would've preferred a complete suspension, with the clean athletes as collateral damage.  That doesn't sit well with me, and it doesn't sit well with IOC President Thomas Bach either, so he decided against that.

Instead, the IOC invited individual Russians to be a part of the OAR team.  Most people expected that would mean a handful of Russian athletes, not an entire team.  That rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and I can see their point.  What was the point of the suspension then?  The only difference is that they can't wear Russian uniforms or wave Russian flags.  Although, it was generally understood that the suspension would be lifted in time for the Russians to march under their own flag at the Closing Ceremony.

There were certain conditions placed on the OAR team that most assumed, if met, would lead to that reinstatement in time for the Closing Ceremony.  None of these restrictions seemed particularly harsh, which is why the assumption was the Closing Ceremony would be Russia's grand return.  That may be in jeopardy now, though.  Because the IOC's nightmare scenario may, in fact, be playing out.

One of the requirements placed on the Russian athletes was signing an anti-doping pledge, especially important considering the reason for Russia's suspension in the first place.  Well, that took a big hit when it was announced that Aleksandr Krushelnitskiy, who won a bronze medal in mixed doubles curling, had failed a doping test.  Any other country would've been bad.  But OAR?  Catastrophic.  Both for Russia and the IOC.

Now, I'm not going to get into why a curler would feel the need to take a performance-enhancing substance.  But for it to be a Russian is devastating in a number of ways.  For starters, the IOC extended invitations to those Russian athletes it deemed "clean."  Now they've got mud all over their faces.  And the Russian athletes had to know that they would be subjected to increased testing because their every movement in PyeongChang was going to be intensely scrutinized.

Details are still emerging in the Krsuhelnitskiy case, so I don't want to pass judgment just yet.  But this is a bad look for the IOC.  A guy they deemed "clean" in the country they suspended for doping gets busted.  Whatever the reason (some are saying meldonium, the same drug that prompted Maria Sharapova's suspension), it's definitely a black mark.  And it's got a lot of people saying "I told you so."

Whether or not Russia is reinstated at the end of the Games, it'll still be two and a half years until Tokyo, so you'd have to think they'll be back competing under their own flag in Tokyo.  Which, whether you think they should be there or not, you've gotta agree is better than "OAR."  A compromise name that just didn't work.