The big question is “Did Trump collude with the Russians on this too?”
Don't worry. CNN will figure out the connection soon enough :-)
There is collusion in the sense that Putin is incredibly good friends with the German head of the IOC.
And as with FIFA/World Cup: the IOC operates unde a crony culture of corruption, luxury kickbacks, bribes, and backroom dealing so endemic to world orgs like these and especially pronounced in countries like Russia and Arab places. So there was never bound to be a genuine ban in the first place.
My opinion was that individual athletes who did not participate in Sochi should be able to compete as individuals, under their own names, and with genuine neutral flag and Olympic flag uniforms. As far as “team sports” like hockey: a ban this time around on forming anything resembling a team would have been warranted.
I recommend viewing the Netflix documentary “Icarus.” The doping system at work in Russia is not just about sports - but about the kind of system and society Putin has built in Russia for the past 20 years as a whole. How the State-run doping network worked is sadly how the country works in general: its economy, its businesses, etc... And honest people always suffer or end up being shafted.
Even the Bolshoi ballet under Putin’s rule is swarmed with crime and corruption. Think Weinstein’s Hollywood times 10.