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Russia banned from Olympics, international sports for 4 years

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency imposed a four-year ban on Russia using its flag, anthem, team names from the Olympics and international sports events.

There is evidence to show that Russian authorities tampered with a Moscow laboratory database to hide hundreds of potential doping cases and falsely shift the blame onto whistleblowers, WADA investigators and the International Olympic Committee said last month.

Russia avoided a blanket ban for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games after a state-run doping program was exposed by media and WADA investigations after Russia hosted the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.