PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Behold the riddle of how many Russian athletes will compete at the Winter Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee announced in December that Russia was barred because of a doping scheme that had corrupted the results of several Games. So zero Russians would compete in Pyeongchang, right? Not exactly.
The I.O.C. propped open a side door for Russian athletes. About 400 of them were told that they could compete — under a neutral flag, wearing neutral uniforms — if they proved that they hadn’t violated antidoping protocols.
Russia later named about 170 of those athletes to its Olympic team, even though, technically, Russia is not allowed to have an Olympic team, because — remember — Russia is banned from these Olympics.