Capitals' Alex Ovechkin disheartened by Olympic ban on Russia
While Alex Ovechkin appears to be patient, he’s still disappointed that he may not get the chance to represent his country in 2022.
On Monday morning, the World Anti-Doping Agency announced it had banned Russia for four years from participating in international competitions, including the World Cup and Olympics.
Considered to be one of the faces of Russian athletics, Ovechkin reacted to the news after practice on Monday.
Ovi on the news of World Anti-Doping Agency banning Russia from Olympics and Global sports for four years pic.twitter.com/VjUkMiTkwJ
— Washington ☃️ Capitals (@Capitals) December 9, 2019
“Obviously it’s sad news, but I think I’m going to have more information later, but it’s bad,” Ovechkin said. “I feel bad for people that are working so hard...and that can’t be there.”
Ovechkin, who heard about the news just before the Capitals took the ice for practice on Monday morning, would rather wait than make any assumptions about how this will affect the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics.
“It’s always disappointing to hear something like that, but I hope everything is going well,” Ovechkin said. “We still have a long time until the Olympics, to figure out what’s better to do. I hope everything is going to be fine.”
The NHL did not participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics and the league is still uncertain whether or not it will permit its players to compete in 2022.
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