Putin won't block athletes from Olympics amid anger at team ban

Vladimir Putin, fresh on the heels of the widely anticipated announcement that he'll seek a fourth term as president, said that Russia won't stop its athletes from competing under a neutral flag at the 2018 Winter Olympics after the national team was banned from the Games."Without any doubt, we won't put up any barrier and won't prevent our athletes from participating if they want to compete as individuals," Putin said Wednesday in Nizhny Novgorod. Many of the athletes "have prepared all their l