Majority of Russian athletes in favor of competing in Winter Olympics

The vast majority of Russian athletes are in favor of competing in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, despite the ban on the national team, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) said on Monday.

Sofia Velikaya, president of the ROC Athletes' Commission, said the committee listened to "all athletes from all sports" in the Olympic program and the majority are in favor of competing.

No athlete expressed a preference for boycotting the event, Velikaya added, stating that "at this moment, everyone is training and everyone hopes to participate in the Games."

Last week, the International Olympic Committee banned the presence of the Russian team at the event due to doping offenses in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but authorized Federation athletes to compete under a neutral flag as "Olympic Athlete from Russia".