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comment by illu45
illu45  ·  2325 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Russia Banned From Winter Olympics by I.O.C.

Good on the IOC. With that being said, this decision does put the stature of the olympic games at risk in certain sports. Does a gold medal in figure skating/biathlon/speed skating mean that the winner is the best in the world if no Russian athletes were present at the competition? Or are competitions like the World Figure Skating Championship going to become more prestigious in those sports than the Olympic games?





veen  ·  2324 days ago  ·  link  ·  

To counter your question with another question: did the Tour de France lose its status? I'd say not, despite severe and longstanding doping scandals.

I don't think it's about prestige, or about objectively being the best. People don't watch the Tour or the Olympics because they want to see who's the best, they watch it because they want to see an incredible performance or an exciting race.