Russia is set to hold an alternative Olympics and Paralympics for its athletes who were banned from competing at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
According to Russian news agency TASS, prime minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree to hold the competition, similar to the one held for the country's athletes before the 2016 Rio Games.
He said: "The Olympic Games are underway, and we are cheering for our athletes who are being in rather complicated conditions there. However, athletes who were not admitted to the Olympics on a spurious pretext, because of a vociferous political campaign unleashed against our country, suffered even more.