Russia said it would ask the world athletics body to allow its athletes to compete under an Olympic banner rather than the Russian flag to circumvent a ban, but the idea was quickly brushed aside by the International Olympic Committee.
Russia has since announced a three-month road map to clean up its act, with the nation’s Olympic Committee leading efforts to ensure honest athletes can compete at the 2016 Olympics. Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said his ministry would ask the Russian Olympic Committee to apply to the IAAF and the International Olympics Committee to request that Russian athletes compete under an ROC flag.